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HUNTING  THE  COUGAR— See  Page  241. 


HUNTING  SPORTS 


IV    THK 


WEST, 


COMPRISING 


ADVENTURES  OF  THE  MOST  CELEBRATED 


HUNTERS  AND  TRAPPERS. 


BT 

CECIL    B.  HARTLEY. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

PUBLISHED  BY  BRADLEY  &  CO., 

No.  66  NORTH  FOURTH  STREET. 
1865. 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1859,  bj 
G.   G.    EVANS, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Eastern  District  of 
Pennsylvania. 


STEREOTYPED  BY  JESPKR  HARDING   ft   SOX,   PHILADELPHIA. 
T.  BINEX,   PRINTER. 


Bancroft 


PREFACE. 


THIS  collection  of  stories  is  designed  to  exhibit  the 
western  hunters  and  trappers  in  their  true  character. 
The  narratives  are  all  matters  of  fact  and  not  of  fancy, 
and  they  have  been  selected  from  a  great  mass  of  a 
similar  character,  on  a  principle  of  choice,  which  the 
compiler  believes  will  be  approved  by  his  readers ;  the 
principle,  namely,  of  displaying  all  the  different  phases 
of  the  western  hunter's  perilous  and  adventurous  life, 
as  far  as  was  practicable  in  so  small  a  space. 

The  reader,  it  is  believed,  will  find  in  the  volume  a 
sufficient  amount  of  novelty  and  variety,  to  repay  him 
for  the  time  spent  in  perusing  its  pages ;  and  he  will, 
probably,  on  closing  it,  come  to  the  same  conclusion 
which  the  compiler  arrived  at  long  since,  namely,  that 
hunting  adventures  with  bears,  panthers,  wild  cats,  and 
other  animals  of  a  similar  description,  are,  on  the  whole, 

enjoyed  much  better   as  one   reads  them  in  a    book, 

-    '  (7) 


8  PREFACE. 

by  a  quiet  fireside,  than  as  one  who  goes  through  them 
in  the  forest  or  field.  Tastes,  however,  differ  on  this 
point. 

Books  of  this  class  are  peculiarly  fascinating  to  a  large 
class  of  readers,  especially  young  persons,  who  are  al- 
ways delighted  with  the  narratives  which  ahound  in  wild 
adventures,  thrilling  incidents,  and  hairbreadth  escapes. 
Such  narratives,  besides  being  very  entertaining,  are 
not  without  a  certain  share  of  positive  utility.  They 
display  to  advantage  certain  characteristics  which  are 
not  unworthy  of  study  and  imitation,  such  as  patience 
and  perseverance  under  great  difficulties ;  coolness,  and 
presence  of  mind  in  the  midst  of  threatening  dangers, 
endurance  of  fatigue,  hunger,  thirst,  and  cold,  with- 
out murmuring;  and  that  hardy  spirit  of  enterprise, 
which  has  led  to  some  of  the  noblest  undertakings  re- 
corded in  the  history  of  our  country. 

The  early  pioneers  of  the  West  were  all  hunters.  They 
acquired  in^the  pursuit  of  the  bear,  the  panther,  and  the  bi- 
son, those  habits  of  courage,  coolness,  presence  of  mind,  and 
indifference  to  danger,  which  made  them  such  formidable 
enemies  to  the  Indians,  and  such  efficient  defenders  of  the 
infant  settlements,  which  are  now  large  towns  and  cities. 

Boone,  the  Wetzels,  Kenton,  Hughs,  Clarke,  and  a 
thousand  other  heroes  of  the  West,  all  commenced  their 
career  of  victory  and  glory  in  the  character  of  hunters ; 


PREFACE.  9 

and  they  showed  themselves  worthy  of  the  hardy  school 
in  which  they  were  educated.  Hunting  is  useful,  not 
only  for  the  taking  of  game  and  the  killing  of  animals 
of  prey,  but  for  the  excellent  physical  education  which  it 
confers,  and  the  useful,  moral,  and  intellectual  traits 
which  it  developes. 


CONTENTS. 


PAW 

Grand  Circular  Hunt 13 

Forest  Life— Play 21 

Forest  Life — Peril M 34 

The  Prairie 39 

Great  Pine  Swamp 47 

Hunting  on  the  Arkansaw 59 

Hunting  in  Arkansas 82 

Hunting  Bears  and  Panthers 103 

A  Kentuckian's  Account  of  a  Panther  Fight 118 

Angling  for  Bass 119 

Hunting  on  the  Ozark  Mountains 124 

Bear  and  Panther  Hunting 152 

Drives 194 

Hunting  Adventures  of  Ichabod  Merritt 200 

Perilous  Adventures  of  Mr.  Ross  Cox 205 

Hunting  on  the  Columbia  River 223 

Shooting  Wild  Turkeys 230 

Hunting  the  Cougar 235 

The  Traveler  and  the  Pole-Cat 245 

Deer  Hunting...,  251 

(ID 


12  CONTENTS. 

mm 
Scipio  and  the  Bear 251) 

Hunting  the  Grizzly  Bear 266 

Hunting  the  Grizzly  Bear  in  his  Den 273 

Curious  Method  of  Hunting  the  Deer 281 

Bear  Hunting  Adventure  of  Ichabod  Merritt 282 

Ugly  Adventure  with  a  Bear 284 

Adventures  in  the  Backwoods 285 

Hunting  a  Black  Bear  in  his  Den .,        295 

Adventures  of  an  English  Sportsman  on  the  Prairies 298 

Bear  Hunting  in  Arkansas 309 

Colonel  David  Crockett's  Encounter  with  a  Bear 319 


HUNTING  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 


GRAND  CIRCULAR  HUNT. 

THE  spirit  of  the  Hunters  of  Kentucky,  says  the  Hes- 
perian, is  not  not  yet  extinct. 

Rapid  as  has  been  the  advance  of  population  in  the 
West,  and  the  progress  of,  what  is  called  refined  life, 
during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century — evident  as  is  the 
aversion  or  indifference  to  manly  sports,  among  the  great 
body  of  the  descendants  and  successors  of  the  Pioneers 
— much  as  silks  and  broadcloths  have  superseded  "  fac- 
tory" and  "home-made,"  and  delicate  canes  and  cush- 
ioned curricles  have  taken  the  place  of  rifles  and  the 
good  old  horseback  exercises ;  yet  one's  eyes  are  now 
and  then  gladdened  with  the  sight  of  a  real  hunting-shirt 
upon  the  back  of  a  true  Anakim  of  the  ancient  stock, 
and  one's  ears  occasionally  delighted  with  accounts  of 
attempts  to  revive  and  keep  up  the  manly  old  sports  of 
our  fathers. 

The  following  is  an  account  of  a  regular  old  fashioned 
Circular  Hunt,  which  took  place  in  Kentucky,  several 
years  since.  The  readers  of  Dr.  Livingstone's  travels, 
will  recognize  in  it  a  resemblance  to  certain  hunting 
sports  which  he  mentions  : 

We  rose  in  the  morning  at  an  early  hour,  to  make 

(13) 


14  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

preparation  for  the  sports  of  the  day.  The  major,  who 
was  to  be  the  Grand  Master  of  the  Hunt,  selected  his  best 
rifles,  and  we  went  to  work  moulding  bullets.  The  notes 
of  preparation  were  sounded  in  every  direction,  the  ne- 
groes laughed,  the  dogs  barked,  the  horses  neighed,  and  all 
was  bustle  and  confusion.  All  the  arrangements  had 
been  made  the  previous  night,  and  every  man  must  be  at 
his  post  by  sunrise.  The  circle  was  to  be  three  miles  iu 
•diameter ;  and  all  the  neighbors  within  a  half-day's  ride, 
were  to  assist  at  the  ceremony.  The  centre  of  the  cir- 
cle was  within  sight  of  the  major's  farm.  Here  was  a 
large  pond  or  lake,  which,  being  frozen  over,  had  been 
chosen  by  universal  consent,  for  the  place  of  meeting. 
As  our  starting  point  was  at  a  considerable  distance,  the 
major  gave  directions  for  the  house  to  be  closed,  the 
windows  to  be  barred  and  protected  from  any  danger 
from  the  infuriated  animals ;  then  bidding  the  females 
keep  close  in  their  asylum,  and  leaving  one  of  the  ne- 
groes with  a  rifle  to  guard  it,  we  started  off.  Little 
Willie,  the  major's  eldest  son,  a  boy  of  about  twelve 
years  of  age,  after  hard  entreaty,  was  permitted  to  ac- 
company us,  under  the  care  of  one  of  the  negroes.  A 
small  rifle,  suitable  to  his  age  and  strength,  was  fur- 
nished, and  he  marched  before  us,  proud  of  his  permis- 
sion, and  boasting  of  his  intended  glorious  warfare  on 
the  smaller  game. 

We  reached  the  appointed  place,  and  exactly  at  the 
hour  commenced  our  advance.  The  hunters  were  placed 
at  a  distance  of  about  fifty  yards  apart,  in  order  that 
nothing  of  consequence  might  escape.  Little  Willie 
kept  close  to  his  father  at  first,  but  getting  bolder  as  we 


GRAND   CIRCULAR   HUNT.  15 

proceeded,  he  wandered  off  ahead,  keeping  his  guardian 
negro,  who  was  rather  old,  puffing,  and  blowing,  and 
ecolding  at  his  temerity:  "  You  young  rascal,"  said  the 
privileged  old  man,  "  why  you  no  keep  along  wid  me 
and  de  rest  of  the  gemmen  ?  Shouldn't  wonder  if  a  big 
'coon  or  somethin'  or  'noder  cocht  hole  ob  you  drucly." 
The  young  gentleman  turned  up  his  nose  at  his  monitor, 
and  shouldering  his  rifle  proudly,  shot  off  into  a  thicket, 
while  the  old  man  started  in  full  chase,  venting  his  spleen 
on  the  branches  that  impeded  him.  As  the  forest  in 
which  we  were  stationed  was  very  thickly  covered  with 
brush  and  elm  timber,  our  progress  was  very  slow.  Ma- 
jor Wiley  and  myself  kept  as  much  together  as  possible. 
From  all  parts  of  the  forest  we  could  hear  the  sharp 
crack  of  the  rifles,  or.  the  louder  reports  of  the  shot- 
guns, which  were  carried  by  the  younger  portions  of  the 
community,  to  the  great  terror  of  squirrels  and  turkeys, 
and  other  small  game. 

Occasionally  a  deer,  wounded  by  the  shot  of  some  of 
the  hunters,  would  appear  flying  swiftly  among  the  trees, 
and  over  logs,  disregarding  everything  in  its  flight,  and, 
as  it  met  the  formidable  line,  would  speed  swiftly  back 
again  towards  the  open  place,  until  it  fell  from  the  loss  of 
blood.  The  howling  of  the  dogs  was  heard  continually 
from  every  quarter,  as,  far  in  advance  of  their  masters,  in 
the  language  of  the  country,  they  "treed  "  some  animal, 
and  were  giving  notice  of  their  success.  Game  was 
plenty ;  foxes  and  wolves  were  started  from  their  caves 
in  every  direction.  The  major,  who  was  an  excellent 
shot,  was  very  successful,  frequently  bringing  clown  hia 
mark  on  the  full  run.  For  my  part,  I  generally  squat- 


16  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE  WEST. 

ted  behind  a  log,  being  a  novice,  and  took  aim  "when 
anything  was  at  bay. 

Old  Pompey  and  little  Willie  had  been  absent  from 
the  company  for  more  than  an  hour,  but  the  major,  who 
was  well  acquainted  with  the  daring  spirit  of  the  boy, 
was  perfectly  unconcerned.  The  only  danger  he  feared 
was,  that  he  might  be  injured  by  some  straggling  shot 
from  some  of  the  hunters. 

We  had  stopped  near  some  fallen  timber,  to  examine  a 
hollow  in  a  large  oak,  in  which  the  major  supposed  a 
bear  might  have  retreated,  when  a  startling  shriek  from 
a  thicket,  about  three  hundred  yards  in  advance,  arrested 
our  attention.  A  crack  of  a  rifle  was  then  heard,  and 
another  scream,  accompanied  with  a  fierce  growling. 
We  started  off  at  a  run  in  the  direction  of  the  sounds, 
which  seemed  to  increase  as  we  came  near.  The  major, 
who  was  a  tall,  powerful  man,  made  his  way  through  the 
brush,  as  if  there  were  only  so  many  corn-stalks  to  im- 
pede him.  There  was  an  open  space  in  the  thicket,  with 
a  large  tree  in  the  centre.  The  first  thing  we  saw  on 
entering  it,  was  little  Willie  loading  his  rifle,  and  trem- 
bling and  screaming  at  the  same  time.  A  little  beyond 
him  was  a  terrible  scene.  Old  Pompey  was  lying  pros- 
trate on  "the  ground,  bleeding  profusely,  and  an  immense 
panther  crouching  upon  his  body,  the  claws  of  one  of  his 
paws  firmly  fastened  in  his  side,  while  with  the  other, 
he  was  keeping  a  dog  at  bay,  growling  furiously,  and 
shaking  his  immense  tail,  as  I  have  seen  a  cat  when  in- 
terrupted in  his  sport  with  an  unfortunate  mouse. 

Poor  Pompey  lay  perfectly  still,  and  was  only  saved 
by  the  well-timed  exertions  of  his  dog,  from  being  in- 


GRAND   CIRCULAR   HUNT.  17 

stantly  torn  to  pieces.  At  our  approach  the  panther 
crouched  still  closer  to  the  body  of  his  victim,  seemingly 
meditating  another  leap.  The  major's  rifle  was  in- 
stantly leveled,  but  he  was  fearful  that  he  might  strike 
the  negro,  and  hesitated.  Fortunately,  at  that  instant, 
a  fierce  attack  of  the  dog  behind,  incommoded  the  pan- 
ther so  much  that  he  thought  it  best  to  retreat.  With 
one  bound  he  reached  the  foot  of  the  tree,  and  was  soon 
high  up  among  the  branches.  As  he  sat  crouching  in 
the  fork,  showing  his  white  teeth,  and  snapping  his  eyes 
until  they  seemed  to  emit  sparks  of  fire,  the  major  again 
raised  his  piece — there  was  a  sharp,  quick  report,  and  the 
animal  sprang  from  the  tree  with  convulsive  energy,  and 
fell  dead  upon  the  ground.  The  ball  had  struck  imme- 
diately between  his  eyes. 

We  ran  and  raised  Pompey  from  the  ground,  and  ex- 
amined his  wounds.  u  Oh,  massa  Wiley,  me  dead  for 
sartain,"  sobbed  the  poor  fellow;  "pooh-hoo-hoo."  But 
he  was  much  more  frightened  than  hurt.  Though  con- 
siderably torn  in  his  thigh  and  side,  none  of  his  wounds 
were  dangerous.  It  seemed  that  Willie,  who  as  usual 
was  ahead  of  his  keeper,  had  got  into  the  thicket,  and 
seeing  the  panther  among  the  branches  of  the  tree,  was 
taking  aim  for  a  sure  shot,  when  Pompey  broke  through 
the  bushes,  and  seeing  the  panther,  uttered  a  terrific 
scream  that  disconcerted  the  hunter  and  caused  him  to 
miss  his  aim.  Simultaneously  with  the  report,  the  pan- 
ther leaped  upon  the  negro,  and  bore  him  to  the  ground. 
Little  Willie^  frightened  almost  to  death,  commenced  re- 
loading his  gun  and  screaming  for  assistance.  It  hap- 
pened very  fortunately  for  both,  that  we  were  so  near. 


18  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE   WEST. 

Some  others  of  the  company  now  came  up,  to  whom  the 
major  consigned  Pompey  and  his  young  charge  to  con- 
duct home,  while  we  again  pursued  our  course. 

It  had  been  settled  that,  when  the  line  of  the  hunt 
had  reached  a  certain  point,  for  fear  of  danger,  all  firing 
should  cease.  We  were  now  within  sight  of  the  lake. 
Its  surface,  which  was  white  with  snow,  was  crowded 
with  the  frightened  animals,  huddled  together  in  a 
group,  or  rushing  backward  and  forward,  endeavoring 
to  find  a  point  in  the  line  through  which  to  make  their 
escape.  But  the  hunters  were  so  numerous  that  there 
was  not,  at  this  time,  an  opening  of  a  yard  wide  to  be 
discovered.  It  was  now  about  11  o'clock,  the  sun  was 
shining  very  brightly ;  and  as  the  animals  flew  about  the 
surface  of  the  ice,  the  snow,  tossed  up  by  their  feet, 
sparkled  like  diamonds.  It  was  a  glorious  sight  to  see 
the  line  gradually  forming  upon  the  edge  of  the  lake — 
the  barrels  of  their  rifles  reflecting  the  sunbeams,  and 
almost  all  arrayed  in  hunting-shirts,  with  knives  fast- 
ened to  their  belts.  There  were  at  least  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  animals,  of  all  kinds,  assembled  within 
the  enclosure — wolves,  foxes,  deer,  bears,  and  wild  cats 
in  abundance.  A  few  of  the  best  hunters  were  selected 
to  destroy  the  game.  The  dogs  were  called  in  and  fast- 
ened, and  they  proceeded  to  the  work  of  death.  Taking 
stations  as  near  as  possible  to  the  group  in  the  centre, 
the  firing  commenced.  Every  shot  told,  and  as  the  ani- 
mals fell,  the  hills  around  reverberated  with  the  shouts 
of  the  joyous  hunters.  At  length  the  frightened  beasts 
grew  furious ;  they  flew  around  m  all  directions,  but  the 
line  was  too  formidable  for  them  to  break  through  it, 


GRAND   CIRCULAR   HUNT.  19 

and,  wherever  they  attempted  to  escape,  they  were  met 
by  the  shouts  and  more  terrible  knives  of  the  party. 

Among  the  deer  was  one  particularly  large  and  pow- 
erful. -  His  antlers  appeared  at  their  points,  to  be  at 
least  nine  feet  apart.  His  color  was  a  dark  red,  with 
only  a  single  white  star  on  his  forehead.  He  made 
several  attempts  to  escape,  but  for  a  while  was  unsuc- 
cessful. His  eyes  flashed  with  rage.  He  pawed  the  ice, 
until  the  spot  where  he  stood  was  entirely  free  from 
snow.  He  shook  his  antlered  head  at  the  hunters,  and 
appeared  several  times  on  the  point  of  attempting  to 
break  through  the  thickest  portion  of  the  line.  Finally, 
after  coursing  around  the  circle  several  times,  at  the  top 
of  his  speed,  he  made  directly  towards  the  line.  Their 
cries  were  unavailing;  nothing  seemed  now  to  have 
power  to  drive  him  back.  With  a  tremendous  leap,  he 
passed  over  the  heads  of  the  hunters — cleared  every  ob- 
stacle— and  was,  in  an  instant,  lost  to  sight  in  the  depths 
of  the  forest.  This  gallant  exploit  was  received  with  a 
tremendous  cheer ;  and  I  firmly  believe  that  not  a  hun- 
ter in  the  crowd  would  willingly  have  harmed  him,  had 
he  presented  the  fairest  mark  for  his  rifle.  Had  it  been 
a  man,  he  would  have  been  sent  to  Congress. 

Now  came  the  most  exciting  part  of  the  hunt.  The 
unerring  guns  of  the  marksmen  had  thinned  the  group 
considerably ;  and  those  that  remained  no  longer  con- 
tinued in  the  centre,  but  kept  running  about  the  ice,  at 
a  loss  how  to  act.  The  heat  of  the  sun  and  the  weight 
of  the -animals  had  considerably  weakened  the  ice.  Sud- 
denly, as  a  volley  was  poured  into  the  crowd,  they  all 
gathered  again  in  the  centre  of  the  lake.  There  was  a 


20  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

sharp  report  of  the  yielding  ice — a,  crash  followed — and 
the  whole  body  of  frightened  beasts  were  soused  promis- 
cuously together  into  the  water.  Such  a  struggling,  and 
fighting,  and  screaming,  and  fluttering,  I  could  never 
have  conceived  of.  The  deer  made  desperate  efforts 
to  escape :  throwing  their  breasts  against  the  edges  of 
the  ice,  and  endeavoring  to  obtain  a  hold  upon  the 
slippery  surface  for  their  feet.  The  wolves  howled,  the 
foxes  barked,  and  the  wild  cats  fastened  their  claws  into 
the  backs  of  the  deer,  and  leaped  from  thence  upon 
the  firm  ice.  I  was  highly  amused  at  the  efforts  of  a 
bear — the  only  one  that  remained.  Blowing  and  snort- 
ing furiously,  he  floundered  about,  and  threw  his  paws 
in  every  direction ;  now  trying  to  mount,  like  the  more 
active  cats,  upon  the  backs  of  the  deer,  then  throwing 
his  huge  paws  lovingly  round  the  neck  of  the  smaller 
animals,  with  his  whole  weight,  and  popping  them  un- 
der. He  finally  succeeded  in  mounting  upon  the  ice, 
and,  stopping  an  instant,  uttered  a  tremendous  growl, 
shook  the  water  from  his  shaggy  sides,  and  started  off  at 
a  dog-trot.  But  danger  was  in  poor  bruin's  front  as 
well  as .  his  rear.  A  shot  entered  his  brain  before  he 
had  advanced  ten  paces,  and  he  rolled  over  on  his  back, 

moaned  a  few  times,  then  breathed  his  last. 

/ 

When  the  last  of  the  terrified  victims  was  despatched, 
the  hunters  began  the  work  of  skinning  and  scalping. 
The  shore  was  lined  with  the  bodies  of  the  slain.  Par- 
ties went  out  and  collected  those  that  fell  during  the  pro- 
gress of  the  hunt  ;  and  when  all  were  in,  they,  were 
counted  ;  seven  bears,  eleven  panthers,  and  foxes,  deer, 
and  wolves,  innumerable,  were  the  result  of  the  day's 


FOREST   LIFE — PLAY.  21 

Sport.  Major  Wiley,  as  master  of  the  ceremonies,  di- 
vided the  spoils  among  the  hunters,  and  all  retired  to 
their  homes  satisfied  and  contented  with  their  opera- 
tions. 


FOREST  LIFE-PLAY* 

BETWEEN  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Lake  Champlain,  lies 
a  broad  tract  of  country,  covered  with  dense  forests 
abounding  with  deer,  and  pierced  by  lakes  and  streams, 
which,  beautiful  in  themselves,  are  still  more  attractive 
to  many  from  their  store  of  trout.  Hills,  dales,  wood, 
water,  leafy  trees,  herbage,  are  enough  for  some  people ; 
others  cannot  be  happy  amid  them,  without  their  rod 
and  gun. 

It  was  to  this  latter  class  that  the  party  belonged,  who, 
one  fine  morning,  found  themselves  in  this  lovely  district, 
bent  on  having  a  holiday  ;  guns,  dogs,  fishing-rods,  tents, 
all  were  there  for  a  month's  scramble  in  the  forest.  Part 
of  their  equipment  consisted  of  two  boats,  one  for  them- 
selves, the  other  for  their  baggage,  which  was  to  be  sent 
forward  in  advance,  in  order  that  tents  might  be  pitched 
for  the  night,  wherever  the  little  company  might  choose 
to  rest,  or  linger  for  a  shot.  The  boats  used  for  this 
purpose,  are  small  and  very  light ;  for  "  rapids,"  that  is, 
cataracts  in  miniature,  interrupt  many  of  the  American 
rivers ;  and  when  the  voyagers  come  to  one  of  these,  the 

*  "  Wild  Scenes  in  North  America.''— HAMMOND. 


22  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE  WEST. 

• 

boatman  pops  his  craft  on  his  back,  and  trots  off  with  it 
to  smooth  water. 

Sailing  quietly  up  the  river,  the  tents  were  pitched, 
the  first  night,  on  the  shores  of  Round  Lake,  a  fine  sheet 
of  water  about  twelve  miles  in  circumference,  and  sur- 
rounded by  hills ;  tall  over-hanging  trees  shading  their 
encampment,  which  looked  westward  over  the  lake.  The 
accommodation  within  was  primitive  enough ;  their  beds 
being  made  of  green  spruce,  and  fir  boughs,  while  a  bun 
die  of  the  same,  bound  into  a  fagot,  served  for  a  pillow. 

While  enjoying  the  evening  breeze,  in  front  of  their 
tents,  a  long  wake  in  the  water,  evidently  caused  by 
some  moving  body,  attracted  their  notice.  Two  of  the 
party  set  off  to  make  out  what  it  was  ;  and  finding  it  was 
a  deer  swimming  across,  they  turned  it  in  the  direction 
of  the  camp.  It  bounded  ashore  close  to  the  tent, 
sprang  right  through  the  group  assembled  there,  and 
dashed  into  the  thicket  behind.  A  shout  greeted  his 
advent  among  the  hunters ;  given  with  such  hearty  good- 
will, that  in  his  fright,  he  leaped,  bleating,  a  dozen  feet 
into  the  air,  and  plunged  wildly  on,  crossed  the  little 
isle  with  great  jumps,  the  last  being  into  the  water  at 
the  other  side. 

Next  morning  the  boatmen  were  sent  onward  with  the 
tents  and  baggage,  while  their  masters  made  the  tour  of 
this  lovely  little  lake.  Near  its  upper  part  is  a  deep 
indentation,  bordered  by  a  luxuriant  meadow  of  Nature's 
own  making,  where  the  wild  herbage,  and  water-lilies 
that  skirt  its  margin,  afford  a  plentiful  pasture  for  the 
deer.^  They  were  enjoying  it  to  their  heart's  content : 
browsing  away  at  grass  and  flowers ;  (that  must  be  some- 


TUE    DEER  8    LEAP. 


FOREST   LIFE — PLAY.  25 

thing  like  bread  and  butter  ;  tho  urass,  plain  bread,  the 
flowers,  ornamental  and  savory  butter  ;)  in  utter  ignor- 
ance, poor  animals !  of  the  evil  designs  entertained  against 
them  by  those  two-legged  visitors  who  were  so  placidly 
watching  them  round  the  corner.  The  light  skiff's  were 
noiselessly  paddled  to  within  a  short  distance  of  them,  and 
then,  coming  full  into  sight,  away  bounded  four-legs  in 
a  fright. 

These  boats  may  always  be  paddled  very  close  to  the 
deer,  by  a  clever  fellow,  who  will  take  care  to  place  him- 
self so  that  the  wind  shall  not  blow  from  him  to  the  ani- 
mal, otherwise  the  keen  scent  of  the  deer  would  instantly 
make  him  aware  of  his  dangerous  neighbor,  to  whom  he 
would  forthwith  say  good-bye,  with  more  haste  than 
ceremony. 

Camping  again,  on  an  island  in  the  Upper  E 
as  the  sun  went  down,  the  fish  were  jumping  about  so 
temptingly,  in  the  quiet  lake,  that  the  boat  was  r- 
out  to  troll  for  the  large  dark  trout.     Those  lake  trout 
are  not   nearly  so   handsome   as   their   cousins  of  the 
stream  and  river;  but  what  is  wanting  in  beauty,  tlioy 
make  up  in  size,  and    in  the  sport  which  they  conse- 
quently afford  the  angler,  who  needs  be  a  skilful  hand, 
to  land  his  fish  after  having  hooked  him. 

One  of  these  large  gentlemen  was  soon  struck,  and 
then  began  an  exciting  struggle.  Fish,  finding  he  was 
caught,  made  off  in  a  hurry  to  the  middle  of  the  lake, 
bending  the  rod  like  a  bow  in  his  hasty  flight.  But 
Angler  was  thoroughly  up  to  him.  Holding  hard  on  by 
the  butt,  he  gave  him  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  of  line, 
and  by  the  time  he  had  used  that  up,  Fish  began  to  feel 


26  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

tired,  though  not  so  much  so  as  to  prevent  him  holding 
back  with  all  the  dogged  determination  of  a  mule,  when 
an  insinuating  effort  was  made  to  draw  him  to  the  boat. 
The  intimation  that  he  was  wanted,  was,  however,  one 
that  he  found  it  impossible  to  resist.  Then  he  tried  a 
furious  rush  forwards,  and  leaping  fairly  out  of  the 
water,  seemed  to  try  to  shake  his  jaw  free  from  the 
hook,  dashing  as  fiercely  down  towards  the  bottom,  when 
he  found  it  of  no  use.  The  reel  sang  again,  as  it  whirled 
round  with  his  efforts  to  release  himself;  but  it  was  of 
no  use,  the  skilful  hand  at  the  other  end  of  the  line,  con- 
stantly and  irresistibly  urging  him  towards  the  boat. 
At  last  he  rose  gasping  to  the  surface,  and  was  drawn 
within  twenty  feet  of  his  persecutors  ;  when  catching  a 
sight  of  them,  gave  strength  to  his  previously  passive 
terrors,  and  away  he  darted  through  the  water,  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet  out.  But  fish  against  man  has  small 
chance,  spite  of  all  his  twistings  and  windings,  and  the 
end  of  it  was,  that  he  was  handed  by  means  of  the  land- 
ing net,  into  the  boat,  a  splendid  ten  pound  trout ! 
Beautiful  and  tempting  looked  he  in  the  clear  water ; 
but  oh,  ten  times  more  beautiful  and  tempting  looked  he 
on  the  breakfast  table  next  morning  !  A  pleased  and 
happy,  nay,  conceited  man,  was  his  captor. 

Pursuing  their  course,  hunting,  fishing,  story-telling, 
up  Bog  River,  the  lower  chain  of  ponds,  surrounded  by 
well  wooded  hills,  was  approached ;  the  river  here  be- 
coming broad  and  shallow,  with  meadows  stretching 
away  on  either  side.  Here  the  oars  were  shipped,  and 
the  boatmen  paddled  along,  sitting  in  the  stern  of  the 
boats,  in  each  of  whose  bows  stood  a  marksman,  with 


FOREST    LIFE — PLAY.  27 

rifle  in  hand,  for  deer,  who  fed  quietly  on  the  borders 
of  the  winding  stream,  were  now  their  game.  Each  one 
who  failed  to  bring  down  his  game,  was  to  give  place  to 
some  one  else  to  try  his  hand,  and  so  on  throughout 
their  number,  till  they  had  secured  a  deer. 

As  they  stole  noiselessly  along  the  ins  and  outs  of  the 
crooked  river,  a  deer  was  suddenly  seen  to  start  from 
among  the  reeds,  and  go  dashing  and  snorting  across  the 
shallow  water,  almost  close  to  the  head  of  the  boat. 
Bang,  went  one  gun  after  him,  sending  him  at  rather  a 
brisker  pace  up  hill  among  the  brushwood.  Crack  went 
number  two :  the  only  effect  being  to  make  him  take  ra- 
ther longer  jumps  as  he  bounded,  snorting  with  terror, 
into  the  woods,  leaving  his  pursuers  gaping  and  staring 
after  him  :  he  had  evidently  the  best  of  it. 

The  first  boat  being  discomfitted,  now  gave  way  to  the 
second,  which  speedily  came  in  sight  of  another  deer, 
daintily  cropping  lilies  on  the  river  side.  Paddling 
noiselessly  to  within  a  few  rods  of  him,  long  and  anx- 
iously did  the  sportsman  take  aim,  but  before  he  could 
draw  the  trigger,  the  deer  looked  up  nervously,  lowered 
his  long  ears,  and  after  one  second's  disgusted  gaze  at 
his  enemy,  made  for  the  shore  at  the  top  of  his  speed. 
Ping,  went  a  rifle  bullet  after  him,  but  at  random,  and 
the  usual  result  of  a  random  shot  snsued ;  the  deer  was 
none  the  worse,  only  stimulated  by  the  report  into  a 
more  railway  pace  up  the  bank,  where  he  disappeared 
among  the  brushwood.  All  this  was  very  bad.  Two 
deer,  three  shots,  and  venison  as  far  off  as  ever. 

It  was  now  the  third  sportsman's  turn.  Gliding 
quietly  along  till  the  boat  was  within  fifteen  rods  of  a 


28  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

deer,  tranquilly  browsing  his  pasture,  up  went  the  rifle, 
one  moment's  pause,  and  then  the  sharp  report  rang  out, 
and  wakened  the  echoes  of  the  shore  and  surrounding 
hills.  This  time  mischief  was  done ;  the  animal  sprang 
into  the  air,  and  bounded  up  the  steep  as  though  unhurt, 
instantly  disappearing  among  the  brushwood.  There  he 
was  speedily  found,  a  noble  fellow  with  branching  ant- 
lers, but  stone  dead,  the  ball  having  passed  clean  through 
him. 

Enough  for  one  day ;  and  beside,  not  loving  killing 
for  mere  killing's  sake,  they  had  determined  to  shoot  no 
more  deer  than  were  needful  to  keep  the  spit  turning 
during  their  forest  life. 

They  were  right  glad  to  rest  on  their  rustic  beds  that 
night,  after  the  hot  fatiguing  day.  Their  van-guard, 
too,  had  not  been  without  his  share  of  fatigue ;  having, 
in  addition  to  the  same  long  journey,  some  parts  of 
which  he  had  had  to  traverse  three  times  over,  killed 
two  deer,  whose  flesh  he  had  cut  up  into  thin  slips,  and 
was  drying  it  for  future  provender,  in  the  smoke  of  a 
wood  fire,  kindled  in  a  bark  hut  for  the  purpose.  This 
mode  of  preparing  meat,  is  called  "jerking "  it.  In 
very  hot  countries,  it  is  dried  in  the  sun,  the  long  thin 
slips,  from  three  to  six  yards  long,  being  hung  in  fes- 
toons on  the  branches  of  some  neighboring  tree. 

On  the  riyer,  just  above  the  traveller's  camp,  was  a 
dam  constructed  of  large  logs,  and  slenderer  ones  laid 
cross-wise,  on  which  brushwood  and  earth  were  placed, 
so  as  to  make  all  tight.  Entangled  in  this,  a  fine  young 
deer  was  found  dead.  The  poor  creature's  foot  had 
slipped  between  the  logs  ;  struggling  to  free  himself  the 


FOREST   LIFE — PLAY.  29 

leg  was  broken,  and  then  he  must  have  perished  of  pain 
and  hunger,  a  worse  death  than  that  from  the  hunter's 
rifle. 

Going  down  stream  in  the  morning,  the  trout  were 
abundant  but  shy.  Hooks  and  baits  were  dangled  be- 
fore them  in  the  most  tempting  manner,  but  not  a  single 
mouthful  would  any  trout  among  them  take.  Tired  of 
this,  a  line,  with  a  weight  attached,  was  let  down  quietly 
among  them,  with  a  number  of  bare  hooks  tied  to  it.  A 
sudden  jerk,  and  one  of  the  largest  was  hooked  by  the 
tail,  and,  together  wkh  some  half  dozen  more,  actually 
dragged  out  of  the  water  in  this  way,  tail  foremost !  A 
novel  mode  of  catching  fish,  undoubtedly. 

Hitherto  the  hunters  had  made  no  use  of  their  dogs. 
Game  was  so  abundant  that  they  were  not  needed.  One 
coursing  match,  howe\  had  with  them  that  ended 

pleasantly  enough  for  the  deer.  The  dogs,  doubtless, 
thought  differently  of  it. 

The  deer  was  upon  a  small  island  in  the  lake  by  which 
the  hunters  were  camped ;  and  having  stationed  their 
boats  so  as  to  prevent  his  reaching  the  shore,  if  he  took 
to  the  water,  the  dogs  were  sent  to  the  island.  In  less 
than  five  minutes  the  stillness  was  broken  by  the  sudden 
and  fierce  cry  of  the  dogs,  who  had  just  started  their 
game.  Away  they  went  in  full  cry  after  him,  making 
the  hills  and  woods  ring  again  as  he  swept  along,  doub- 
ling and  winding,  with  them  still  at  his  heels.  Presently 
he  made  his  appearance  close  to  the  hunters;  who,  car- 
ing more  for  the  excitement  of  the  chase  than  the  capture 
of  the  deer,  received  him  with  such  a  volley  of  shouts 
and  halloos,  as  fairly  frightened  him  back  again  into  the 


SO  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

woods,  whence  he  had  broken  cover.  From  that  shelter, 
however,  the  dogs  soon  chased  him  into  the  water ;  only 
to  be  driven  back  again  to  dry  land.  A  second  attempt 
to  take  water  was  again  frustrated,  and  he  retreated, 
baffled,  to  the  thickets.  Thrice  was  he  coursed  round 
the  island,  the  hunters  facing  him  wherever  he  attempted 
to  escape.  At  last  he  plunged  desperately  into  the  lake, 
and  swam  towards  the  shore  three-quarters  of  a  mile  off, 
his  tormentors  contriving  again  to  disappoint  his  design, 
and  compel  him  to  land  on  a  little  shrub-covered  island, 
not  more  than  half  an  acre  in  size,  and  that  stood  at 
about  the  distance  of  half  a  mile  down  the  lake.  When 
he  neared  this  he  sprang  on  the  shore,  frantically  looking 
on  all  sides  for  some  hiding-place,  or  means  of  escape. 
None  was  to  be  had ;  whichever  way-  he  turned,  there 
was  one  of  the  hunters  ahead  of  him,  shouting  and  driv- 
ing him  nearly  mad.  This  way  and  that  rushed  the  poor 
beast  in  vain,  till  in  despair  he  took  up  his  post  among 
the  bushes,  that  covered  a  knoll  in  the  middle  of  the 
island  ;  and  there,  after  tossing  his  head  up  and  down,  as 
he  looked  from  one  to  another  of  his  enemies,  he  waited 
for  what  might  come.  He  at  length  quietly  lay  down. 
Fortunately  for  him  the  hunters  had  had  all  they  wanted, 
a  coursing  match ;  and,  satisfied  with  his  performance, 
they  rowed  away,  leaving  him  to  recover  at  leisure  from 
his  exertions.  Once  rid  of  them,  he  swam  to  the  main 
land,  and  speedily  disappeared  among  his  own  forests. 

Let  us  see  the  hunters  going  to  dinner,  before  we  leave 
them.  There  are  pieces  of  moose,  (a  very  clumsy  kind 
of  deer  peculiar  to  northern  countries,  and  in  northern 
Europe  called  the  elk,)  and  bear's  meat,  spitted  on  long 


FOREST   LIFE — PLAY.  31 

sticks  before  a  roasting  fire.  Further,  there  are  fresh 
trout  from  the  lake,  whether  caught  by  the  head  or  tail 
does  not  matter;  the  jerked  venison  that  we  have  heard 
of,  and  savoury  salt  pork ;  all  of  which,  when  ready  for 
dishing,  are  placed  on  slices  of  birch-bark  fresh  peeled 
from  the  trees.  While  for  drinkables,  there  are  tea,  and 
excellent  spring  water,  into  which  people  with  whom  cold 
water  disagrees,  (there  are  such  queer  folks  in  the  world,) 
may  pop  the  least  possible  dose  of  brandy.  Those  who, 
for  once  and  away,  cannot  contrive  to  make  a  dinner  on 
such  materials,  are  recommended  to  keep  out  of  the 
woods ! 

In  this  lake  country,  deer  are  sometimes  hunted  by 
candlelight.  A  box  open  in  front,  and  large  enough  to 
hold  several  candles,  is  placed  on  a  posf  about  four  feet 
high  in  the  bows- of  the  boat.  The  marksman  sits  on  a 
low  seat  close  behind  this ;  and  then,  rowing  noiselessly 
in  the  dark  to  where  the  deer  are  feeding  by  the  edges 
of  the  stream,  a  full  blaze  is  thrown  upon  the  animal, 
while  the  hunter,  who  is  quiet  in  the  shadow,  takes  aim 
quietly,  and  "does"  for  him. 

But  deer,  and  moose,  and  bears,  are  not  the  only 
"game  "to  be  found  in  American  forests.  In  some  of 
them,  that  comical  little  pig,  the  peccary,  may  be  met 
with  ;  and  a  fierce  little  beast  he  is  too.  His  teeth  are 
as  sharp  as  knives ;  and  woe  be  to  man  or  beast  who 
comes  within  their  reach  ;  for  it  is  "  no  surrender  "  with 
the  peccary.  The  creatures  go  about  in  droves  of  from 
ten  to  fifty  ;  will  attack  anything,  or  anybody  that  comes 
in  their  way,  no  matter  how  well  armed ;  and,  as  they 
make  a  point  of  fighting  it  out  to  the  last,  till  there  is  not 


32  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

one  piggy  of  their  number  left,  people  who  are  acquainted 
with  their  manners  and  habits  generally  prefer  letting 
them  alone. 

Their  mode  of  "camping"  at  night  is  particularly 
droll.  Selecting  a  large  hollow  tree,  overthrown  by  some 
storm  of  wind,  the  whole  drove  will  get  into  it,  one  after 
the  other,  backwards,  so  that  the  last  stands  guard,  with 
his  snout  to  the  entrance.  And  it  is  when  they  have  be- 
taken themselves  to  their  lodgings  for  the  night,  that  the 
settler,  (to  whose  crops  they  are  terribly  destructive,)  has 
his  almost  sole  chance  of  destroying  them. 

When  he  finds  one  of  these  hollow  trees,  he  soon  as- 
certains whether  or  not  the  peccaries  have  chosen  it  for 
their  sleeping-place.  If  they  have,  he  waits  with  as 
much  patience  as  he  can,  for  a  regular  dull,  dark,  driz- 
zling day ;  for  in  such  weather  the  peccaries,  disliking 
either  a  wet  jacket,  or  wet  feet,  or  both,  do  not  stir 
abroad,  but  remain  in  the  retirement  of  their  hollow  tree 
trunk.  On  such  a  day,  therefore,  the  settler,  armed  with 
his  rifle,  takes  his  stand  at  day-dawn,  directly  opposite 
to  what  we  may  call  the  peccary's  front  door ;  concealing 
himself  cautiously  among  the  neighboring  bushes.  Pre- 
sently there  is  light  enough  to  see  the  nose  and  sharp 
eyes  of  the  sentinel  peccary.  Covering  him  with  his 
rifle,  the  trigger  is  pulled ;  and  with  the  ball  in  his  brain, 
over  head  and  heels  tumbles  poor  piggy-wiggy,  and  there 
is  an  end  of  him.  Wakened  by  the  explosion,  another 
pops  himself  into  the  opening  to  see  what  is  the  matter ; 
but  a  second  bullet  finishes  him  in  like  manner.  A  third, 
fourth,  even  more,  it  is  said,  may  be  shot  in  this  way,  if 
the  man  is  only  careful  enough  not  to  stir  the  bushes 


FOREST    LIFE— PLAY.  33 

among  which  he  is  hidden.  If  he  do,  there  is  an  end  of 
the  game ;  out  jumps  the  heast  in  the  door-way,  with  all 
the  rest  at  his  heels,  and  together  they  make  a  grand 
charge  at  the  sportsman,  who  finds  a  tree,  or%a  light  pair 
of  heels,  his  best  defence  against  these  fierce  and  fearless 
animals. 

A  bear  hunt  in  Texas,  which  is  one  of  the  places  where 
peccaries  are  found,  was  one  day  brought  to  a  very  amus- 
ing termination  by  these  small  pests.  The  bear,  trying 
to  climb  a  tree,  as  the  hunters  came  up  to  him,  was  sur- 
rounded .by  the  dogs,  who  held  him  on  every  side  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  render  it  difficult  to  get  a  shot  at  him,  for 
fear  of  wounding  them.  Bruin  was  accordingly  pitching 
them  right  and  left,  when  all  at  once  a  drove  of  peccaries 
dashed,  grunting,  upon  the  whole  group.  The  dogs,  cut 
and  slashed  by  their  villanous  sharp  teeth,  slank  off 
howling  to  their  masters.  The  poor  t^ar  found  himself 
in  worse  hands  even  than  before ;  and,  roaring  with  pain, 
rolled  about,  striking  out  at  random  in  all  directions  with 
his  huge  paws,  at  these  new  assailants :  while  from  the 
hunters  themselves,  half  angry,  half  laughing,  rose  a 
general  cry  of  "  Peccaries !  run,  run !"  And  sticking 
spurs  into  their  horses,  they  bounded  off  through  the  cane 
brake,  only  too  glad  to  leave  the  peccaries  and  the  bear 
to  fight  it  out  between  themselves. 
3 


34  HUHTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 


FOREST  LIFE-PERIL. 

THE  huge  forests  of  America  and  Canada  are  slowly 
yielding  to  the  axe  of  the  backwoodsman.  From  morn- 
ing to  night,  his  broad  keen  blade  glitters  in  its  relent- 
less descent,  and  the  bright  flashing  chips  fly,  till  down 
thunders  one  monarch  of  the  woods  after  another,  whose 
only  revenge  on  his  destroyer,  is  the  leaving  of  a  tor- 
menting stump.  Those  stumps,  dotted  here  and  there 
among  his  cleared  land,  are  dreadfully  in  the  4vay  of  the 
plowman,  till  time  or  gunpowder,  completes  their  de- 
struction, and  enables  him  to  achieve  that  pride  of  his 
heart,  a  straight  furrow. 

But  if  the  axe  were  the  only  means  of  turning  the 
woodlands  into  cornfields  and  pastures,  or  into  what  may 
some  day  become  so,  the  process  would  go  on  much  more 
slowly  than  it  does.  Fire  plays  no  unimportant  part 
in  the  destruction  of  the  woods ;  and  its  fierceness,  and 
the  extent  of  its  ravages,  are  such  as  none  can  conceive, 
save  those  who  have  witnessed  them.  Lightning  strikes 
a  dry  tree,  and  kindles  up  a  blaze ;  or,  perhaps,  the 
heaped-up  cuttings  and  brushwood,  left  by  the  "  lum- 
berer" or  backwoodsman,  are  set  on  fire,  either  acci- 
dentally, (possibly  by  a  spark  from  the  odious  tobacco- 
pipe,  which  we  can  scarcely  forgive,  even  in  that  com- 
fortless place,)  or  purposely,  to  get  rid  of  the  rubbish  ; 
and  the  conflagration  runs  on  for  miles,  consuming,  not 
trees  only,  and  the  frightened  wild  inhabitants  of  the 
forest,  but,  in  its  unchecked  fury,  licking  up  the  tender 


FOREST   LIFE — PERIL.  35 

crops,  and  the  homestead  itself,  of  the  struggling  emi- 
grant, who  is  too  happy  if  he  and  his  little  ones  can  only 
escape  with  their  lives.  Fire  is  the  best  remedy  for 
fires  of  this  kind.  That  sounds  odd  enough.  In  the  city, 
if  we  catch  fire,  we  run  post  haste -for  the  "  engine,"  and 
should  think  any  one  mad  who  prescribed  fire  instead  of 
water.  But  the  meaning  of  it  is,  tliat  the  most  effectual 
way  of  checking  the  flames  in  these  forest  and  bush 
fires  is,  to  set  fire  to  the  grass  and  brushwood,  sufficiently 
in  advance  of  the  great  fire  that  is  to  be  extinguished, 
to  allow  them  to  be  burnt  out,  before  the  wave  of  flame 
comes  up  to  the  place.  If  this  can  be  managed, — it  re- 
quires much  care  and  adroitness, — the  original  fire,  of 
course,  goes  out  for  want  of  fuel,  and  there  is  an  end  of 
it.  But  too  frequently  the  intensity  of  the  conflagra- 
tion baffles  all  attempts  to  stop  it.  In  the  hot  season, 
dead  trees,  broken  branches,  and  decaying  underwood, 
are  dry  as  tinder ;  the  resin  and  pitch,  in  such  trees  as 
the  fir,  give  unconquerable  fury  to  the  flames,  while  the 
violent  wind,  which  is  the  natural  result  of  a  vast  body 
of  intense  heat,  fans  the  whole  into  still  stronger  com- 
bustion. A  fire  of  this  kind  that  took  place  in  one  of 
the  English  possessions  in  North  America,  in  1825, 
burnt  on  for  the  astounding  distance  of  a  hundred  and 
forty  miles,  and  on  both  sides  of  a  large  river.  On  one 
bank  alone,  a  breadth  of  more  than  sixty  miles  was  ra- 
vnircd  by  it. 

It  appears  that  for  several  days  previously  the  woods 
had  been  on  fire ;  but  this  being  no  infrequent  thing, 
did  not  produce  any  alarm.  Suddenly,  however,  a 
storm  of  wind  arose,  accompanied  by  so  extraordinary  a 


36  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

sound,  like  distant  thunder,  proceeding  from  the  depths 
of  the  forests,  as  made  the  inhabitants  of  the  district  fear 
that  there  was  something  worse  than  the  mere  ordinary 
burning  of  the  woods.  The  sky  also  became  obscured 
with  the  rolling  smoke,  and  speedily  the  surrounding 
woods  flashed  out  into  flames,  whose  long  forky  tongues 
licked  and  twined  in  all  directions,  around  the  tall  bolea 
of  the  forest  trees,  and  even  leaped  high  into  air,  thirty 
or  forty  yards  above  their  tops.  Two  towns  were  almost 
immediately  involved  in  the  fire,  many  of  whose  inhabi- 
tants were  suffocated  or  burnt  to  death,  and  others 
dreadfully  injured.  'Those  who  escaped  death,  had  no 
time  to  save  any  of  their  property  ;  but,  hurrying  to  the 
banks  of  the  river,  sought  in  canoes,  on  rafts,  logs  of 
timber,  or  indeed  anything  that  could  float,  to  make 
their  escape  from  the  horrid  death  that  threatened  them 
on  shore.  Nor,  stripped  of  everything,  were  they  safe 
even  there ;  since  the  violence  of  the  tempest  whirled 
aloft  burning  logs,  fragments  of  houses,  and  even  trees, 
and  dashed  them,  flaming,  into  the  water.  Of  how 
many  of  the  backwoodsmen  perished  in  the  forest,  where 
they  had  made  their  homes,  no  account  could  be  taken  ; 
but  it  is  supposed  that,  altogether,  at  least  five  hundred 
human  beings  lost  their  lives  in  this  dreadful  fire. 

One  poor  lumberer,  (a  backwoodsman  is  so  named 
from  his  occupation  of  felling  timber  or  lumber,  as  it  is 
called,)  had  just  built  his  "  shanty  "  or  log-hut,  and  was 
beginning  to  cut  timber  when  the  fire,  broke  out.  He 
was  told  of  it  by  some  of  his  men  who  had  passed 
through  the  wood  to  bring  provisions  to  the  little  camp, 
but  thought  nothing  of  it,  till  one  of  them,  leaving  the 


FOREST   LIFE — PERIL.  37 

snanty  for  a  minute,  came  back  hastily  with  news  that 
the  fire  was  a  bad  one,  and  within  a  mile  of  the  hut. 
They  instantly  looked  out,  and  as  far  as  they  could  see, 
there  was  nothing  but  fire,  waving  high  above  the  forest, 
and  whose  roar,  like  that  of  a  gigantic  furnace,  was 
broken  in  upon,  from  time  to  time,  by  the  crash  of  fall- 
ing trees. 

Not  a  moment  was  to  be  lost.  Without  staying  to  save 
an  article,  they  ran  to  a  small  stream  a  little  way  off. 
Some  of  them  thought  this  would  be  a  sufficient  check  to 
the  flames,  and  so  contented  themselves  with  crossing  it, 
and  going  a  short  distance  down  its  opposite  bank,  to  a 
spot  which  they  had  formerly  cleared.  The  lumberer, 
however,  felt  sure,  that  such  a  fire  as  that  now  raging 
behind  them,  would  soon  leap  the  comparatively  narrow 
thread  of  water,  and,  as  safety  was  on  neither  bank,  he 
adopted  the  bold  plan  of  taking  refuge  in  the  stream 
itself.  Wading  into  it,  therefore,  shoulder  high,  he  took 
up  kis  post  underneath  a  hanging  bank,  and  awaited  his 
fate. 

The  flames  advanced,  consuming  all  before  them,  and 
filling  the  sky  with  a  lurid  glare.  Their  hot  breath  was 
almost  stifling  to  the  poor  trembling  wretch  in  the  river. 
Another  minute,  and  the  trees  overhead  were  a-light, 
and  he,  forced  for  safety,  to  plung3  his  head  under  the 
water,  holding  it  there  as  long  as  he  could  for  suffoca- 
tion, and  then  taking  breath  for  a  moment.  When  he  was 
able  once  more  to  stand  erect,  the  flame  was  still  raging 
onward  before  him.  Behind,  where  it  had  passed,  black- 
ened boles  were  still  blazing ;  mere  stumps,  with  all  their 
branches  burnt  off,  and  soon  to  die  out  for  want  of  fresh 


38  HUNTING   SPOR'TS   OP  THE   WEST. 

fuel.  The  poor  man  dared  not,  for  some  hours,  leave 
his  watery  fortress,  but  at  last  made  good  his  escape 
from  the  ruined  neighborhood.  His  log-hut  and  every- 
thing in  it  was  of  course  destroyed ;  but  happily  for  him, 
some  of  the  provisions  lying  in  a  cellar,  escaped  injury ; 
otherwise,  after  escaping  fire,  he  might  hav<*  died  of 
starvation,  before  he  could  get  away.  His  companions 
were  lost  in  the  burning  forest. 

The  lumberer  himself  told  the  story  of  his  wonderful 
escape  to  Major  Strickland,  who  relates  it  in  the  man's 
own  words  in  his  account  of  his  own  life  as  a  settler  in 
Canada. 

Mr.  Charles  Murray,  in  his  travels  in  North  America, 
describes  this  setting  fire  to  the  woods  as  being  done  on 
purpose  by  Indians,  in  order  to  drive  himself  and  his 
companions  from  their  hunting  grounds.  In  whatever 
direction  they  turned  for  sport,  a  light  was  certain  to  be 
applied  to  the  dry  grass,  and  then  all  was  in  a  blaze. 
On  more  than  one .  occasion,  not  only  was  his  sport 
spoiled,  but  his  life  endangered  by  this  practice.  One 
day  he  had  to  take  to  the  water,  to  escape  from  the  flames, 
which  they  had  kindled  in  the  wood  for  his  particular 
accommodation.  Another  time,  seeing  him  cross  the 
prairie  to  a  wood  where  it  was  supposed  deer  might  be 
found,  they  fired  the  grass  in  several  places,  and  in  such 
a  direction  that  the  wind,  which  was  rather  high,  might 
carry  the  flames  his  way.  Mr.  Murray  soon  perceived 
that  he  could  not  outrun  the  fire,  and  therefore  adopted 
the  plan  of  which  we  have  spoken,  curing  fire  by  means 
of  fire.  He  set  the  grass  near  him  alight,  and  then,  when 
it  was  burnt  out,  took  up  his  post  in  the  centre  of  the 


THE   PRAIRIE.  39 

bare  space  thus  created.  He  had  the  satisfaction  of  see- 
ing that  the  Indians'  fire  could  not  pass  its  circumference 
for  want  of  fuel,  but  skirting  it,  seized  grass,  and  brush- 
wood, and  timber,  and  so  carried  the  conflagration  on- 
wards, leaving  him  safe,  though  half  suffocated. 

The  next  day  he  went  out  in  a  different  direction, 
where  there  had  not  been  any  fire.  But  his  Indian 
friends  were  ready  fcrt  him.  As  evening  drew  on,  slight 
columns  of  smoke  were  seen  spiring  out  of  the  Wood ;  and 
presently  the  flames  burst  forth,  the  old  dry  timber  crash- 
ing down,  and  sending  up  a  shower  of  sparks.  The 
flames  crept  here,  along  the  brushwood,  and  leaped  up 
there,  as  they  folded  themselves  round  some  resinous 
tree  ;  while  huge  clouds  of  smoke,  black  and  lurid,  as  they 
shifted  about,  canopied  the  magnificent  scene. 

The  Indians  had  the  best  of  it,  for  they  fairly  burnt 
out  Mr.  Murray  and  his  sporting  friends. 


THE  PRAIRIE. 

THE  ponderous  buffalo  is  the  "  game  "  of  the  north 
American  plains  or  prairies ;  in  some  of  which  it  still 
abounds,  notwithstanding  the  incredible  destruction  which 
necessity,  or  mere  wantonness,  has  wrought  among  these 
beasts.  Some  idea  of  the  killing  that  goes  on  among 
lierds  of  buffalo  may  be  formed  from  a  knowledge  of  the 
circumstance  of  a  hundred  thousand  prepared  skins — buf- 
falo robes  they  are  called — being  every  year  brought  into 


40  HUNTING   SPOKTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

Canada  and  the  United  States,  where  they  are  much  used 
as  a  defence  from  the  extreme  winter  cold  of  those  coun- 
tries. This  is,  in  addition  to  any  number  that  may  be 
kilfed  to  provide  the  same  covering  for  the  Indians  them- 
selves, who  are  as  fond  of  it  as  their  white  neighbors  are. 
The  buffalo  is  to  them  great  gain;  they  eat  him,  wear 
him,  and  trade  him  away  for  the  various  articles  of  use 
and  luxury  which  their  uncivilized  wandering  life  fails  to 
provide  for  them,  but  the  taste  for  which  it  by  no  means 
extinguishes. 

A  traveller  camping  out  in  the  prairies,  heard  one 
night  a  noise  like  distant  thunder,  but  so  prolonged  that 
he  was  certain  it  could  not  be  that.  Puzzled  to  account 
for  it,  as  it  came  nearer  and  nearer,  he  listened  with  his 
ear  close  to  the  ground,  and  at  length  became  aware  that 
it  was  the  heavy  tread  of  a  herd  of  buffaloes  on  one  of 
their  usual  migrations  on  the  plains ;  and  a  momentary 
gleam  of  moonlight  showed  him  the  prairie,  black  over 
with  thousands  upon  thousands  of  these  huge  beasts. 
How  to  escape  their  headlong  rush  became  a  subject  of 
no  little  anxiety,  as  camp  and  all,  placed  in  their  imme- 
diate track,  was  in  danger  of  being  borne  away  by  the 
torrent.  Hastening  to  his  comrades,  he  roused  them  up  ; 
and  by  dint  of  repeated  volleys  from  their  muskets,  aided 
by  the  united  screeches  and  yells  of  the  whole  party, 
they  succeeded  in  frightening  the  monsters  into  a  different 
path  to  that  which  led  directly  over  their  encampment, 
and  thus  escaped  the  chance  of  being  crushed  to  death. 
The  herd,  under  this  double  salute,  divided  into  two; 
one-half  thundering  off  to  the  plains,  while  the  other 
tramped  through  the  adjacent  river,  where  their  splash- 


THE   PRAIRIE.  41 

ing  and  dashing,  as  they  crossed  the  water,  was  heard 
for  hours.  Such  are  the  numbers  in  which  these  great 
creatures  roam  about  their  native  prairies. 

It  is  said  that  the  buffalo  is  not  naturally  a  fierce  ani- 
mal ;  but  its  looks  are  against  it.  Its  huge  head,  and 
rough  beard  and  mane,  are  not  unlike  those  of  a  lion, 
only  much  larger  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  its  body. 
When  urged  to  its  speed  these  are  tossed  about  in  what 
appears  to  be  a  most  threatening  manner ;  but  the  poor 
beast  does  not  mean  mischief,  unless  his  pursuers  drive 
him  to  it;  and  then,  woe  betide  all  that  come  in  his 
way ! 

The  Indians  sometimes  manage  to  slaughter  even  the 
largest  herds  of  buffaloes,  in  what  may  be  called  a  whole- 
sale way.  In  order  to  make  it  intelligible,  some  descrip- 
tion of  the  nature  of  these  prairies  is  needful.  They  are, 
as  has  been  said,  vast  undulating  plains,  studded  hero 
and  there  with  clumps  of  park-like  timber;  but  these 
plains  are  occasionally  broken  up  by  great  clefts  or 
canons,  which  go  suddenly,  and  almost  sheer  down  for 
many  hundred  feet.  Mr.  Kendall,  in  his  account  of  the 
Santa  Fd  expedition,  relates  that  he  and  his  party  were 
traversing  one  of  these  plains,  in  which  no  break  of  the 
surface  could  be  perceived  far  as  the  eye  could  reach, 
when  all  at  once  they  found  themselves  on  the  brink  of 
one  of  these  tremendous  chasms.  Its  almost  perpendi- 
cular depth  beneath  their  feet  was  near  three  hundred 
yards,  and  it  was  from  three  to  five  hundred  yards  wide. 
A  slender  stream,  now  hidden  by  some  huge  rock,  now 
bubbling  again  into  view,  coursed  along  the  bottom, 
wearing  its  channel  into  fantastic  shapes.  The  depth, 


42  HUNTING   SPOKTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

and  dark  abrupt  character  of  this  rent  in  the  earth,  made 
them  almost  sick  as  they  looked  down  into  it;  the  more 
so,  perhaps,  that  there  was  no  way  of  continuing  their 
journey  but  by  crossing  it.  Had  they  been  made  of 
india-rubber,  they  might  have  rolled  themselves  up  into 
balls  and  bowled  down  to  the  bottom,  with  the  utmost 
ease ;  but  even  that  would  have  left  them  with  the  dif- 
ficulty of  getting  up  the  other  side,  as  apparently  insu- 
perable as  ever.  However,  cross  it  they  must ;  and  as, 
the  day  previous,  they  had  seen  numerous  foot-marks  of 
Indians,  horses,  and  buffaloes  leading  in  this  direction,  it 
was  evident  that  they  had  managed  to  pass  it,  and  if 
they  could,  so  might  others.  It  was  dangerous,  but  that 
could  not  be  helped ;  so  the  steadiest  and  best  behaved 
horses  and  mules  were  first  induced  to  begin  the  perilous 
descent,  those  who  were  less,  to  be  trusted  bringing  up 
the  rear.  There  was  one  advantage  attending  their  steep 
downward  course,  and  that  was,  that,  once  in  for  it,  and 
there  was  no  turning  back.  Onward  they  were  obliged 
to  go ;  and  amid  clattering  stones,  loosened  by  their 
tread,  and  that  leaped  and  bounded  down  before  them, 
they  at  last  reached  in  safety  the  very  bottom  of  this 
dreary  ravine. 

Here  they  rested  for  a  while,  as  was  evident  their  pre- 
decessors the  Indians  had  done  ;  various  traces  of  whose 
camp  were  scattered  about.  The  track  upwards  and  out 
of  the  cleft  was  presently  discovered  ;  and  winding  along 
the  ravine  till  it  was  reached,  afforded  ample  opportunity 
for  noticing  the  remarkable  and  fantastic  effects  of  the 
rushing  waters  that  coursed  throughout  it.  Pillars,  forts, 
battlements,  turrets,  by  turns  presented  themselves,  till 


• 


THE   PRAIRIE.  45 

the  traveler   might   have  imagined  himself  wandering 
among  the  ruins  of  some  deserted  city. 

Getting  down  was  bad ;  getting  up  again  was  worse. 
Guns,  baggage,  and  horse  furniture  had  to  be  carried  in 
the  hand,  while  the  animals  scrambled  up  as  they  could. 
One  of  them  struck  against  a  piece  of  rock  that  stuck 
out  upon  the  path,  and  was  hurled  down  by  the  shock  a 
distance  of  near  twenty  feet,  fulling  right  upon  his  back. 
Of  course  he  was  given  up  for  lost ;  but,  thank  you, 
Dobbin  had  ao  idea  of  that.  He  just  got  up  again, 
himself  a  shake,  and  then  trying  it  a  second  time, 
marched  up  as  steadily  as  any  of  them.  The  passage  of 
this  ravine  took  them  five  or  six  hours ;  by  the  middle  of 
the  afternoon  i  accomplished  it,  and  were  restored 

to  the  upper  world.     Continuing  their  route  on  the  plain, 
they  found  that  bj  MB  they  had  left  the  c-h; 

few  hundred  yards  behind  them,  not  the  slightest  trace 
of  its 'existence  was  to  be  .- 

It  is  into  chasms  such  M  that  the  mounted  In- 

dians, spurring  their  half-wild  horses  to  their  u: 
speed,  drive  the  immense  herds  of  buffaloes,  when  they 
come  upon  them  in  a  situation  suitable  for  this  purpose. 
Urged  onward  by  the  yells  and  rapid  hoof-trampling  be- 
hind them,  headlong,  and  tumbling  over  each  other  go 
the  huge  terror-stricken  brutes,  p,  dark  avalanche  of 
-life,  bounding  from  crag  to  crag  in  the  rugged  de- 
scent, till,  at  the  very  bottom  of  the  canon,  lies  a  writh- 
ing, swelling  heap  of  carcases,  a  rich  spoil  for  their  sa- 
vage pursuers  to  gloat  over. 

The  bow  and  arrow  is  a  formidable  weapon  for  the 
destruction  of  buffalo,  in  the  hands  of  an  Indian.     Some 


46  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

of  the  Pawnees  will  launch  their  arrows  with  such  force 
as  to  drive  them  almost  up  to  the  feathered  end  in  the 
animal's  body.  Nay,  it  is  said  that  they  are  sometimes 
shot  clean  through  him,  and  left  quivering  in  the  ground 
beyond. 

The  ordinary  way  of  shooting  the  buffalo  by  civilized 
sportsmen,  is  either  by  hunting  him  or  by  stalking.  The 
former  is  accomplished  on  horseback,  bringing  him  down 
at  a  long  shot.  The  latter  is  done  on  foot,  creeping  along 
from  bush  to  bush,  hiding  here,  and  dodging  there,  keep- 
ing in  such  a  direction  that  the  wind  may  not  blow  the 
scent  of  the  hunter  to  his  game,  in  stealing  upon  him  un- 
awares. But  there  is  no  object  of  the  chase  that  takes 
so  much  killing  as  the  poor  buffalo.  His  enormous  frame 
offers  so  wide  a  range  of  others  than  fatal  marks  for  a 
bullet,  that  the  chances  are,  save  in  skillful  hands,  that 
the  wretched  animal  may  be  riddled  before  he  falls.  A 
well-placed  shot  behind  the  shoulder,  will  soon  bring 
down  even  his  vast  bulk ;  and  it  should  not  be  forgotten 
that  though  we  may,  and  must  kill  these  creatures,  it  is 
our  duty  to  do  so  with  as  little  suffering  to.  them  as  pos- 
sible. A  bungling  sportsman  deserves  to  rank  with  a 
butcher ;  and  not  even  with  him,  if  he  is  expert  at  his 
business. 

Hunting  buffalo  is  not  the  only  business  of  the  Indians 
of  the  prairie.  The  wild  horse  that  scours  those  bound- 
less plains  forms  a  still  more  exciting  chase.  No  pop- 
ping at  him  with  rifles,  or  twanging  bow-strings  at  him ; 
he  must  be  taken  alive  and  uninjured.  And  my  lord  is 
not  always  so  easily  caught  as  his  pursuers  would  wish. 
Jf  a  troop  of  horses  is  seen,  the  mode  employed  is  that 


•RE AT   PINE   SWAMP.  47 

of  forming  a  wide  circle  round  them  by  mounted  Indians, 
who  gradually  draw  nearer  and  nearer  to  each  other, 
driving  the  horses  before  them,  till  their  prey  is  within 
reach  of  the  lasso.  The  lasso  is  a  long  cord  with  a  noose 
at  one  end,  which  the  Indians  throw  with  wonderful  pre- 
cision. This  is  skillfully  thrown  round  the  necks  of  those 
who  are  thought  best  worth  taking;  and  the  Indians, 
riding  off  with  their  struggling,  prancing  captives,  soon 
succeed  in  making  them  understand  the  value  of  obedi- 
ence. They  may  kick,  and  plunge,  and  rear,  and  caper, 
as  they  think  proper ;  but  it  is  all  of  no  use.  Between 
a  powerful  bit,  tremendous  spurs,  and  a  rider  who  sticks 
to  his  steed  like  wax,  the  noble  animal  is  effectually  sub- 
dued, and  henceforth  must  follow  the  bidding  of  another, 
instead  of  his  own. 

If  there  be  but  a  solitary  horse,  or  the  hunters  are 
few,  of  course  there  is  just  a  race  for  it,  generally  ending 
in  favor  of  the  hunter;  who,  it  must  be  said,  occasionally 
receives  a  handsome  kick  or  two  from  his  captive. 


GREAT  PINE  SWAMP.* 

I  LEFT  Philadelphia,  at  four  in  the  morning,  by  the 
coach,  with  no  other  accoutrements  than  I  knew  to  be 

*  Of  all  hunters,  Audubon  is  the  most  interesting.  He  hunted  with  a 
noble  purpose;  he  saw  with  the  eye,  and  described  with  the  pen  of  an  ar- 
tist. This  account  of  the  Swamp  is  extracted  from  his  Ornithological  Bi- 
ography. 


48  HUNTING   SPORTS    OF  THE   WEST. 

absolutely  necessary  for  the  jaunt  which  I  intended  to 
make.  These  consisted  of  a  wooden  box,  containing  a 
small  stock  of  linen,  drawing  paper,  my  journal,  colors, 
and  pencils,  together  with  twenty-five  pounds  of  shot, 
some  flints,  the  due  quantum  of  cash,  my  gun,  Tear- 
jacket,  and  a  heart  as  true  to  nature  as  ever. 

Our  coaches  are  none  of  the  best,  nor  do  they  move 
with  the  velocity  of  those  of  some  other  countries.  It 
was  eight,  and  a  dark  night,  when  I  reached  Mauch 
Chunk,  now  so  celebrated  in  the  Union,  for  its  rich  coal 
mines,  and  eighty-eight  miles  distant. from  Philadelphia. 
I  had  passed  through  a  very  diversified  country,  part  of 
which  was  highly  cultivated,  while  the  rest  was  yet  in  a 
state  of  nature,  and  consequently  much  more  agreeable 
to  me.  On  alighting,  I  was  shown  to  the  travelers' 
room,  and,  on  asking  for  the  landlord,  saw,  coming  to- 
wards me,  a  fine-looking  young  man,  to  whom  I  made 
known  my  wishes.  He  spoke  kindly,  and  offered  to 
lodge  and  board  me  at  a  much  lower  rate  than  travelers 
who  go  there  for  the  very  simple  pleasure  of  being 
dragged  on  the  railway.  In  a  word,  I  was  fixed  in  four 
minutes,  and  that  most  comfortably. 

No  sooner  had  the  approach  of  day  been  announced  by 
the  cocks  of  the  little  village,  than  I  marched  out  with  my 
gun  and  note-book,  to  judge  for  myself  of  the  wealth  of 
the  country.  After  traversing  much  ground,  and  crossing 
many  steep  hills,  I  returned,  if  not  wearied,  at  least  much 
disappointed  at  the  extraordinary  scarcity  of  birds.  So  I 
bargained  to  be  carried  in  a  cart,  to  the  central  parts  of 
Great  Pine  Swamp,  and,  although  a  heavy  storm  was 
rising,  ordered  my  conductor  to  proceed. 


GREAT   PINE    SWAMP.  49 

We  winded  round  many  a  mountain,  and  at  last  crossed 
the  highest.  The  weather  had  become  tremendous,  and 
we  were  thoroughly  drenched,  but  my  resolution  being 
fixed,  the  boy  was  obliged  to  continue  his  driving. 
Having  already  traveled  about  fifteen  miles  or  so,  wo 
left  the  turnpike,  and  struck  up  a  narrow  and  bad  road, 
that  seemed  merely  cut  out  to  enable  the  people  of  the 
Swamp  to  receive  the  necessary  supplies  from  the  vil- 
lage which  I  had  left.  Some  mistakes  were  made,  and 
and  it  was  almost  dark,  when  a  post  directed  us  to  the 
habitation  of  a  Mr.  Jediah  Irish,  to  whom  I  had  been 
recommended.  We  now  rattled  down  a  steep  declivity, 
edged  on  one  side  by  almost  perpendicular  rocks,  and 
on  the  other,  by  a  noisy  stream,  which  seemed  grum- 
bling at  the  approach  of  strangers.  The  ground  was  so 
overgrown  by  laurels,  and  tall  pines  of  different  kinds, 
that  the  whole  presented  only  a  mass  of  darkness. 

At  length  we  got  to  the  house,  the  door  of  which  was 
already  opened,  the  sight  of  strangers  being  nothing  un- 
common in  our  woods,  even  in  the  most  remote  parts. 
On  entering,  I  was  presented  with  a  chair,  while  my 
conductor  was  shown  the  way  to  the  stable,  and  on  ex- 
pressing a  wish  that  I  should  be  permitted  to  remain  in 
the  house  for  some  weeks,  I  was  gratified  by  receiving 
the  sanction  of  the  good  woman  to  ii,y  proposal,  although 
her  husband  was  then  from  home.  As  I  immediately 
fell  a-talking  about  the  nature  of  the  country,  and  in- 
quired if  the  birds  were  numerous  in  the  neighborhood, 
Mrs.  Irish,  more  au  fait  to  household  affairs  than  orni- 
thology, sent  for  a  nephew  of  her  husband's,  who  soon 
made  his  appearance,  and  in  whose  favor  I  became  at 


50  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE  WEST. 

once  prepossessed.  He  conversed  like  an  educated  per- 
son, saw  that  I  was  comfortably  disposed  of,  and  finally 
bade  me  good-night,  in  such  a  tone  as  made  me  quite 
happy. 

The  storm  had  rolled  away  before  the  first  beams  of 
the  morning  sun  shone  brightly  on  the  wet  foliage,  dis- 
playing all  its  richness  and  beauty.  My  ears  were 
greeted  by  the  notes,  always  sweet  and  mellow,  of  the 
Wood  Thrush  and  other  songsters.  Before  I  had  gone 
many  steps,  the  woods  echoed  to  the  report  of  my  gun, 
and  I  picked  from  among  the  leaves  a  lovely  Sylvia, 
long  sought  for,  but  until  then,  sought  for  in  vain.  I 
needed  no  more,  and  standing  still  for  awhile,  I  was 
soon  convinced  that  the  Great  Pine  Swamp  harbored 
\many  other  objects  as  valuable  to  me. 

The  young  man  joined  me,  bearing  his  rifle,  and  offered 
to  accompany  me  through  the  woods,  all  of  which  he 
well  knew.  But  I  was  anxious  to  transfer  to  paper  the 
form  and  beauty  of  the  little  bird  I  had  in  my  hand; 
and  requesting  him  to  break  a  twig  of  blooming  laurel, 
we  returned  to  the  house,  speaking  of  nothing  else  than 
the  picturesque  beauty  of  the  country  around. 

A  few  days  passed,  during  which  I  became  acquainted 
with  my  hostess  and  her  sweet  children,  and  made  occa- 
sional rambles,  but  spent  the  greater  portion  of  my  time  in 
drawing.  One  morning,  as  I  stood  near  the  window  of 
my  room,  I  remarked  a  tall  and  powerful  man  alight  from 
his  horse,  loose  the  girth  of  the  saddje,  raise  the  latter 
with  one  hand,  pass  the  bridle  over  the  head  of  the  ani- 
mal with  the  other,  and  move  towards  the  house,  while 
the  horse  betook  himself  to  the  little  brook  to  drink.  I 


\  GREAT   PINE   SWAMP.  51 

heard  some  movements  in  the  room  below,  and  again  the 
same  tall  person  walked  towards  the  mills  and  stores,  a 
few  hundred  yards  o.ff  from  the  house.  In  America,  busi- 
ness is  the  first  object  in  view  at  all  times,  and  right  it 
is  that  it  should  be  so.  Soon  after,  my  hostess  entered 
my  room,  accompanied  by  a  fine-looking  woodsman,  to 
whom,  as  Mr.  Jediah  Irish,  I  was  introduced.  Reader, 
to  describe  to  you  the  qualities  of  that  excellent  man 
were  vain ;  you  should  know  him  as  I  do,  to  estimate  the 
value  of  such  men  in  our  sequestered  forests.  He  not 
only  made  me  welcome,  but  promised  all  his  assistance 
in  forwarding  my  views. 

The  long  walks  and  long  talks  we  have  had  together, 
I  never  can  forget,  or  the  many  beautiful  birds  which 
we  pursued,  shot,  and  admired.  The  juicy  venison,  ex- 
cellent bear  flesh,  and  delightful  trout,  that  daily  formed 
my  food,  methinks  I  can  still  enjoy.  And  then,  what 
pleasure  I  had  in  listening  to  him  as  he  read  his  favorite 
poems  of  Burns,  while  my  pencil  was  occupied  in  smooth- 
ing and  softening  the  drawing  of  the  bird  before  me ! 
Was  not  this  enough  to  recall  to  my  mind  the  early  im- 
pressions that  had  been  made  upon  it,  by  the  description 
of  the  golden  age,  which  I  here  found  realized  ? 

The  Lehigh  about  this  place,  forms  numerous  short 
turns  between  the  mountains,  and  affords  frequent  falls, 
as  well  as  below  the  falls  deep  pools,  which  render  this 
stream  a  most  valuable  one  for  mills  of  any  kind..  Not 
many  years  before  this  date,  my  host  was  chosen  by  the 
agent  of  the  Lehigh  Coal  Company,  as  their  mill-wright, 
and  manager  for  cutting  down  the  fine  trees  which  co- 
vered the  mountains  around.  He  was  young,  robust, 


52  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE  WEST. 

active,  industrious,  and  persevering.  He  marched  to 
the  spot  where  his  abode  now  is,  with  some  workmen, 
and  by  dint  of  hard  labor,  first  cleared  the  road  men- 
tioned above,  and  reached  the  river  at  the  centre  of  a 
bend,  where  he  fixed  on  erecting  various  mills.  The 
pass  here  is  so  narrow,  that  it  looks  as  if  formed  by  the 
bursting  asunder  of  the  mountain,  both  sides  ascending 
abruptly,  so  that  the  place  where  the  settlement  was 
made,  is  in  many  parts  difficult  of  access,  and  the  road, 
when  newly  cut,  was  only  sufficient  to  permit  men  and 
horses  to  come  to  the  spot  where  JecHah  and  his  men  were 
at  work.  So  great,  in  fact,  were  the  difficulties  of  access, 
that,  as  he  told  me,  pointing  to  a  spot  about  150  feet  above 
us,  they,  for  many  months  slipped  from  it  their  barrelled 
provisions,  assisted  by  ropes,  to  their  camp  below.  But 
no  sqoner  was  the  first  saw-mill  erected,  than  the  axe- 
men began  their  devastations.  Trees,  one  after  another 
were,  and  are  yet  constantly  heard  falling  during  the 
days  j  and  in  calm  nights,  the  greedy  mills  told  the  sad 
tale,  that  in  a  century  the  noble  forests  around  should 
exist  no  more.  Many  mills  were  erected,  many  dams 
raised,  in  defiance  of  the  impetuous  Lehigh.  One  full 
third  of  the  trees  have  already  been  culled,  turned  into 
boards,  and  floated  as  far  as  Philadelphia. 

In  such  an  undertaking,  the  cutting  of  the  trees  is  not 
all.  They  have  afterwards  to  be  hauled  to  the  edge  of 
the  mountains  bordering  the  river,  launched  into  the 
stream,  and  led  to  the  mills  over  many  shallows  and  dif- 
ficult places.  Whilst  I  was  in  the  Great  Pine  Swamp,  I 
frequently  visited  one  of  the  principal  places  for  the 
launching  of  logs.  To  see  them  tumbling  from  such  a 


GREAT   PINE   SWAMP.  53 

height,  touching  here  and  there  the  rough  angle  of  a  pro- 
jecting rock,  bouncing  from  it  with  the  elasticity  of  a 
foot-ball,  and  at  last  falling  with  awful  crash  into  the 
river,  forms  a  sight  interesting  in  the  highest  degree,  but 
impossible  'for  me  to  describe.  Shall  I  tell  you  that  I 
have  seen  masses  of  these  logs  heaped  above  each  other 
to  the  number  of  five  thousand,  ?  I  may  so  tell  you,  for 
such  I  have  seen.  My  friend  Irish  assured  me  that  at 
some  seasons,  these  piles  consisted  of  a  much  greater 
number,  the  river  becoming  in  those  places  completely 
choked  up. 

When  freshets  (or  floods)  take  place,  then  is  the  time 
chosen  for  forwarding  the  logs  to  the  different  mills. 
This  is  called  a  frolic.  Jediah  Irish,  who  is  generally 
the  leader,  proceeds  to  the  upper  leap  with  his  men,  each 
provided  with  a  strong  wooden  handspike,  and  a  short- 
handled  axe.  They  all  take  to  the  water,  be  it  summer 
or  winter,  like  so  many  Newfoundland  spaniels.  The 
logs  are  gradually  detached,  and,  after  a  time,  are  seen 
floating  down  the  dancing  stream,  here  striking  against 
a  rock  and  whirling  many  times  round,  there  suddenly 
checked  in  dozens  by  a  shallow,  over  which  they  have  to 
be  forced  with  the  handspikes.  Now  they  arrive  at  the 
edge  of  a  dam,  and  are  again  pushed  over.  Certain 
numbers  are  left  in  each  dam,  and  when  the  party  has 
arrived  at  the  last,  which  lies  just  where  my  friend  Irish's 
camp  was  first  formed,  the  drenched  leader  and  his  men, 
about  sixty  in  number,  make  their  way  home,  find  there 
a  healthful  repast,  and  spend  the  evening  and  a  portion 
of  the  night  in  dancing  and  frolicking,  in  their  own  sim- 
ple manner,  in  the  most  perfect  amity,  seldom  troubling 


54  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

themselves  with  the  idea  of  the  labor  prepared  for  them 
on  the  morrow. 

/That  morrow  now  come,  one  sounds  a  horn  from  the  ; 
door  of  the  store-house,  at  the  call  of  which  each  returns 
to  his  work.  The  sawyers,  the  millers,  the  rafters,  and 
raftsmen  are  all  immediately  busy.  The  mills  are  all 
going,  and  the  logs,  which  a  few  months  before  were  the 
supporters  of  broad  and  leafy  tops,  are  now  in  the  act  of 
being  split  asunder.  The  boards  are  then  launched  into 
the  stream,  and  rafts  are  formed  of  them  for  market. 

During  the  summer  and  autumnal  months,  the  Lehigh, 
a  small  river  of  itself,  soon  becomes  extremely  shallow, 
and  to  float  the  rafts  would  prove  impossible,  had  not 
art  managed  to  provide  a  supply  of  water  for  this  ex- 
press purpose.  At  the  breast  of  the  lower  dam  is  a 
curiously  constructed  lock,  which  is  opened  at  the  ap- 
proach of  the  rafts.  They  pass  through  this  lock  with 
the  rapidity  of  lightning,  propelled  by  the  water  that  had 
been  accumulated  in  the  dam,  and  which  is  of  itself 
generally  sufficient  to  float  them  to  Mauch  Chunk,  after 
which,  entering  regular  canals,  they  find  no  other  impedi- 
ments, but  are  conveyed  to  their  ultimate  destination. 

Before  population  had  greatly  advanced  in  this  part 
of  Pennsylvania,  game  of  all  descriptions  found  within 
that  range  was  extremely  abundant.  The  Elk  itself  did 
not  disdain  to  browse  on  the  shoulders  of  the  mountains, 
near  the  Lehigh.  Bears  and  the  Common  Deer  must 
have  been  plentiful,  as,  at  the  moment  when  I  write, 
many  of  both  kinds  are  seen  and  killed  by  the  resident 
hunters.  The  Wild  Turkey,  the  Pheasant,  and  the 
Grouse,  are  also  tolerably  abundant ;  and  as  to  Trout  in 


GREAT   PINE   SWAMP.  57 

the  streams — Ah,  reader,  if  you  are  an  angler,  go  there, 
and  try  for  yourself.  For  my  part,  I  can  only  say,  that 
I  have  been  made  weary  with  pulling  up  from  the  rivulets 
the  sparkling  fish,  allured  by  the  struggles  of  the  com- 
mon grasshopper. 

A  comical  affair  happened  with  the  bears,  which  I  will 
relate.  A  party  of  my  friend  Irish's  raftsmen,  returning 
from  Mauch  Chunk,  one  afternoon,  through  sundry  short 
cuts  over  the  mountains,  at  the  season  when  the  huckle- 
berries are  ripe  and  plentiful,  were  suddenly  apprised  of 
the  proximity  of  some  of  these  animals,  by  their  snuffing 
the  air.  No  sooner  was  this  perceived  than,  to  the  as- 
tonishment of  the  party,  not  fewer  than  eight  bears,  I 
was  told,  made  their  appearance.  Each  man,  being  pro- 
vided with  his  short-handled  axe,  faced  about  and  wil- 
lingly came  to  the  scratch ;  but  the  assailed  soon  proved 
the  assailants,  and  with  claw  and  tooth  drove  off  the  men 
in  a  twinkling.  Down  they  all  rushed  from  the  moun- 
tain ;  the  noise  spread  quickly ;  rifles  were  soon  procured 
and  shouldered ;  but  when  the  spot  was  reached,  no  bears 
were  to  be  found ;  night  forced  the  hunters  back  to  their 
homes,  and  a  laugh  concluded  the  affair. 

I  spent  six  weeks  in  the  Great  Pine  Forest — Swamp 
it  cannot  be  called — where  I  made  many  a  Hrawing. 
Wishing  to  leave  Pennsylvania,  and  to  follow  the  migra  • 
tory  flocks  of  our  birds  to  the  south,  I  bade  adieu  to  the 
excellent  wife  and  rosy  children  of  my  friend,  and  to  his 
kind  nephew.  Jediah  Irish,  shouldering  his  heavy  rifle, 
accompanied  me,  and  trudging  directly  across  the  moun- 
tains, we  arrived  ut  Mauch  Chunk,  in  good  time  for 


58  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

dinner.     Shall  I  ever  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  that 
good,  that  generous  man  again  ? 

At  Mauch  Chunk,  where  we  both  spent  the  night,  Mr. 
White,  the  civil  engineer,  visited  me,  and  looked  at  the 
drawings  which  I  had  made  in  the  Great  Pine  Eorest. 
The  news  he  gave  me  of  my  sons,  then  in  Kentucky, 
made  me  still  more  anxious  to  move  in  their  direction, 
and,  long  before  day-break,  I  shook  hands  with  the 
good  man  of  the  forest,  and  found  myself  moving  towards 
the  capital  of  Pennsylvania,  having,  as  my  sole  compa- 
nion, a  sharp  frosty  breeze.  Left  to  my  thoughts,  I  felt 
amazed  that  such  a  place  as  the  Great  Pine  Forest 
should  be  so  little  known  to  the  Philadelphians,  scarcely 
any  of  whom  could  direct  me  towards  it.  How  much  is 
it  to  be  regretted,  thought  I,  that  the  many  young  gen- 
tlemen who  are  there,  so  much  at  a  loss  how  to  employ 
their  leisure  days,  should  not  visit  these  wild  retreats, 
valuable  as  they  are  to  the  student  of  nature  !  How 
differently  would  they  feel,  if,  instead  of  spending  weeks 
in  smoothing  a  useless  bow,  and  walking  out  in  full 
dress,  intent  on  displaying  the  make  of  their  legs,  to 
some  rendezvous  where  they  may  enjoy  their  wines, 
they  were  to  occupy  themselves  in  contemplating  the 
rich  profusion  which  nature  has  poured  around  them,  or 
even  in  procuring  some  desired  specimen  for  their  Peales 
Museum,  once  so  valuable  and  so  finely  arrranged  !  But 
alas  !  no :  they  are  -none  of  them  aware  of  the  richness 
of  the  Great  Pine  Swamp,  nor  are  they  likely  to  share 
the  hospitality  to  be  found  there. 

Night  came  on,  as  I  was  thinking  of  such  things,  and  I 
was  turned  out  of  the  coach  into  the  streets  of  the  fair  city, 


HUNTING    ON   THE   ARKANSAW.  59 

just  as  the  clock  struck  ten.  I  cannot  say  that  my  bones 
were  much  rested,  but  not  a  moment  was  to  be  lost.  So  I 
desired  a  porter  to  take  up  my  little  luggage,  and  lead- 
ing him  towards  the  nearest  wharf,  I  found  myself,  soon 
after,  gliding  across  the  Delaware,  towards  my  former 
lodgings  in  the  Jerseys.  The  lights  were  shining  from 
the  parallel  streets  as  I  crossed  them,  all  was  tranquil 
and  serene,  until  there  came  the  increasing  sound  of  the 
Baltimore  steamer,  which,  for  some  reason  unknown  to 
me,  was  that  evening  later  than  usual  in  its  arrival.  My 
luggage  was  landed  and  carried  home  by  means  of  a 
bribe.  The  people  had  all  retired  to  rest,  but  my  voice 
was  instantly  recognized,  and  an  entrance  was  afforded 
to  me. 


HUNTING  ON  THE  ARKANSAW. 

ONE  of  the  most  entertaining  narrators  of  hunting 
adventures,  is  Frederick  Gerstaecker,  a  German  tra- 
veler, who  cam*  to  this  country  several  years  since,  ap- 
parently for  the  sole  purpose  of  hunting  in  the  far  west. 
He  worked  at  various  employments  to  raise  money,  and 
when  he  had  obtained  a  supply,  would  shoulder  his  rifle, 
go  into  the  woods  and  hunt.  His  book,  "  Wild  Sports 
in  the  Far  West,"  is  exceedingly  entertaining.  We 
make  some  extracts  from  it ;  commencing  at  a  point 


60  HUNTING    SPORTS   OF  THE   WEST. 

where,  having  been  employed  on  a  steamboat,  he  had 
quarreled  with  the  captain  and  got  set  on  shore,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Arkansaw  river.  His  narrative  proceeds 
thus : 

All  around  me  was  a  solitary  wilderness ;  the  river 
behind  me,  the  ground  frozen  hard,  and  covered  with  a 
thin  sheet  of  snow,  a  cold  north  wind  blowing  through 
the  leafless  branches.  I  felt  in  my  pocket  for  my  fire 
apparatus,  it  was  all  wet ;  not  a  single  grain  of  powder  in 
my  powder-horn,  and  only  one  barrel  loaded.  I  thought 
it  would  never  do  to  discharge  my  gun  for  the  sake  of 
lighting  a  fire,  and  remain  unarmed  in  the  wilderness. 
I  cleared  away  the  snow  from  under  a  tree,  lay  down, 
and  tried  to  sleep ;  but  the  wind  was  too  sharp,  the  cold 
insupportable,  and  I  was  afraid  of  being  frozen.  Driven  to 
extremity,  I  discharged  my  gun  against  the  root  of  a  tree 
lighted  a  match  by  the  burning  wadding,  collected  dry 
grass  and  wood,  and  in  a  minute  or  two  had  a  glorious 
fire. 

Although  I  heard  the  howls  of  several  wolves,  I  did 
not  mind  them,  but  enjoyed  a  sound  sleep.  Certainly, 
on  the  following  morning,  I  trudged  on,  rather  out  of 
spirits,  with  no  powder,  and  a  very  hungry  stomach. 

I  followed  the  direction  of  the  river  downwards,  in 
hopes  of  finding  a  house.  After  I  had  gone  some  dis- 
tance, I  saw  an  old  half-sunken  canoe.  I  baled  out  the 
water  with  my  cap,  and  found  that  she  was  still  service- 
able. My  former  intentions  of  visiting  Texas,  returned 
in  full  force  ;  I  decided  on  crossing  to  the  other  side,  to 
look  for  a  house,  and  procure  food  and  powder,  and  re- 


HUNTING   ON   THE  ARKANSAW.  61 

solved  then  to  strike  off  in   a  south-west  direction  in 
search  of  the  route  to  Texas. 

I  had  hardly  gained  the  opposite  bank  when  I  disco- 
vered a  large  flock  of  wild  turkeys.  I  took  aim,  and 
pulled  the  trigger,  forgetting  that  I  had  not  loaded ; 
they  took  to  the  trees  on  my  approach,  and  I  suffered 
the  tortures  of  Tantalus  at  the  sight ;  but  there  was  no 
help  for  it,  and  I  was  obliged  to  pass  on.  As  it  always 
happens  in  such  cases,  I  saw  quantities  of  game  this 
day. 

Cold  and  cloudy  descended  the  night,  bringing  with  it 
the  dreaded  north  wind ;  I  was  obliged  to  lie  down  with- 
out a  fire.  In  order  to  avoid  the  bears  and  panthers,  I- 
had  climbed  up  a  tree,  but  the  wind  was  too  sharp  to 
make  such  an  airy  perch  endurable.  At  length  I  found 
a  hollow  tree,  crept  in,  covered  my  feet  with  my  game- 
bag,  placed  my  gun  on  my  left  side,  and,  with  my  knife 
in  my  right  hand,  I  passed  one  of  the  most  uncomforta- 
ble Rights  of  my  life.  I  heard  the  howling  of  the 
wolves,  and  once  the  roar  of  a  panther  in  the  distance  ; 
but  nothing  came  to  disturb  me,  and  the  bright  morning 
sun  saw  me  early  on  the  inarch,  for  my  couch  was  not 
inviting  enough  to  detain  me.  At  length,  what  music 
to  my  ears !  the  crow  of  a  cock  and  the  bark  of  a  dog 
announced  the  neighborhood  of  a  farm.  I  soon  per- 
ceived the  thin,  blue  smoke  of  a  chimney  ascending  into 
the  beautiful  clear  sky,  and,  with  a  quickened  pace, 
made  towards  it,  hoping  soon  to  refresh  both  body  and 
soul. 

The  good  people  gave  me  such  a  hospitable  recep- 
tion, and  placed  so  much  on  the  table,  that,  notwith- 


62  HUNTING   SPORTS    OF   THE   WEST. 

standing  my  fearful  appetite,  there  was  a  great  deal 
more  than  I  could  eat.  Fortunately,  the  farmer  had  a 
stock  of  gunpowder,  and  filled  my  powder-horn  for  a 
quarter  of  a  dollar. 

As  I  was  about  to  depart,  he  asked  if  I  would  not 
like  to  join  a  shooting  party ;  several  of  his  neighbors 
were  coming  this  morning  to  search  a  thicket  not  far 
from  his  house,  where  they  expected  to  find  a  bear  which 
had  robbed  him  of  many  of  his  pigs.  I  did  not  long 
hesitate,  cleaned  my  gun,  loaded  the  left  hand  barrel 
with  ball,  and  the  right  with  buck-shot,  and  so  was  ready 
for  anything.  We  had  not  long  to  wait,  and  all  mounted 
on  horseback.  We  soon  arrived  at  the  spot,  and  rode 
round  and  round  it ;  it  was  the  thickly  overgrown  bed  of 
a  former  spring.  Suddenly  the  dogs  gave  tongue,  and 
immediately  afterwards  the  bear  started  out  of  his 
hiding-place.  Eager  as  we  were,  we  could  only  follow 
him  slowly,  on  account  of  the  thick  underwood ;  so  we 
hobbled  the  horses'  fore-legs*,  and  pressed  forward  on 
foot. 

One  of  the  party  soon  proclaimed  that,  judging  by 
the  bark  of  the  dogs,  the  bear  must  have  climbed  up  a 
tree.  Such  proved  to  be  the  case,  and  we  had  hardly 
discovered  him,  when  I  and  one  of  the  farmers  fired ; 
both  balls  had  taken  effect,  but  a  dull  cry  was  the  only 
consequence ;  two  others  of  the  party  coming  up,  fired. 
He  was  mortally  wounded,  drew  himself  together,  and 
hung  by  one  paw  from  the  tree ;  as  I  hit  him  on  the  paw 
with  my  buck-shot,  he  fell,  and  died  under  the  bites  of 
the  dogs,  who  threw  themselves  furiously  on  him.  His 
Hesh  was  savory  and  tender,  but  he  yas  not  so  fat  as 


HUNTING   ON  THE   ARKANSAW.  63 

was  expected.     I  remained  the  night  with  these  kind 
people,  and  set  off  again  on  the  following  morning. 

"Without  anything  further  worth  noticing,  Lcame,  on 
the  15th  of  March,  to  the  bank  of  the  Great  Red  river, 
the  boundary  between  the  United  States  and  Texas.  A 
farmer  who  had  a  canoe,  set  me  over  the  river,  and  fol- 
lowing a  well-trodden  path  on  the  other  side,  I  came  to 
a  large  slave  plantation.  The  overseer,  who  directed 
the  labors  of  the  negroes,  said,  at  first,  that  he  had  no 
room  for  me  to  sleep  in ;  but  as  there  was  no  other  house 
far  and  wide  where  I  could  find  shelter,  he*  at  last 
agreed,  and  I  found  a  sumptuous  supper  and  comforta- 
ble bed. 

The  land  near  the  river  was  very  swampy,  and  over- 
grown with  thick  canes,  but  the  wood  became  more  open 
and  the  ground  dryer  as  I  left  the  river.  On  the  even- 
ing of  the  third  day,  I  again  slept  at  a  plantation,  and 
this  was  the  last  night  I  passed  in  a  house  for  some  time 
to  come.  The  overseer  lived  in  a  block-house,  and  all 
around  stood  the  smaller  huts  of  the  slaves,  one  for  each 
family.  During  the  hours  of  labor,  he  carried  a  heavy 
whip  to  keep  the  blacks  in  order ;  yet  he  did  not  seem  to 
feel  quite  safe  amongst  these  poor,  ill-treated  people,  for 
lie  had  a  pair  of  pistols  in  his  saddle  holsters. 

From  these  quarters  I  marched  along  fresh  anJ.  in 
good  spirits  into  the  forest,  which  already  began  to  look 
green.  The  birds  sang  so  sweetly  on  the  branches,  that' 
my  heart  was  joyful  and  mournful  at  the  same  time ;  I 
longed  in  vain  for  a  companion,  with  whom  I  could  ex- 
change thoughts.  A  shot  echoed  from  the  plantation, 
and  innumerable  wild  geese  rose  from  the  cotton-fields 


64  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

behind  me;  with  a  deafening  noise  they  formed  then 
usual  triangle,  and  flew  all  in  the  same  direction. 

Luckily  for  me,  I  had  in  my  bag  a  couple  of  wild  ducks 
that  I  had  killed  and  roasted  the  day  before.  The  forest 
was  mortally  dull,  and  the  march  began  to  grow  rather 
tedious,  for  my  rambles  in  the  north  were  still  fresh  in 
my  memory.  I  passed  the  night  very  pleasantly  by  a 
fire,  while  my  hunger  took  the  second  duck  into  con- 
sideration. 

Towards  noon  I  came  to  the  little  river  Sulphur-fork, 
which  I  •  was  obliged  to  wade  through,  after  many  vain 
attempts  to  find  a  shallow  place,  the  water  corning  up  to 
my  chest.  I  began  to  despair  of  getting  any  thing  to 
eat,  and,  being  thoroughly  wet,  I  resolved  to  come  soon 
to  a  halt,  and  dry  myself  by  a  fire,  when  all  at  once  I 
saw  about  fifty  deer,  within  shot,  all  quietly  feeding,  and 
taking  no  notice  of  me.  For  an  instant  I  stood  petrified  ; 
then  every  fibre  in  my  body  beat  and  trembled  with  de- 
light. The  suddenness  of  the  sight  had  so  excited  me 
that  I  could  not  take  aim,  and  I  was  obliged  to  wait  to 
collect  myself.  It  was  a  glorious  sight,  such  a  number 
of  those  noble  animals  together ;  I  counted  fifty-seven, 
and  derived  particular  pleasure  from  the  antics  of  two 
fawns,  which  made  the  most  comical  bounds,  and  came 
very  near  me  without  any  suspicion.  Regret  to  kill  such 
a  beautiful  innocent  creature  withheld  my  hand  for  some 
time,  but  hunger  was  not  to  be  cajoled, — I  fired,  and  one 
of  them  fell  without  a  cry.  The  effect  of  the  report  upon 
the  herd  was  quite  ludicrous, — each  of  the  hitherto  un- 
suspicious animals  became  an  image  of  attention,  then 
fled  with  immense  bounds  towards  the  thicket.  As  I  did 


OERSTAECKER   SHOOTING   A   PANTHER. 


HUNTING   ON   THE  ARKANSAW.  67 

not  move  they  stopped  again,  and  began  to  feed,  but  not 
without  frequently  raising  their  heads  to  listen.  The 
impression  which  the  fall  of  his  playfellow  had  produced 
on  the  other  fawn  was  very  different.  Far  from  flying, 
he  came  nearer,  smelt  the  poor  animal  as  if  he  thought 
it  was  play,  setting  his  fore-foot  several  times  on  the 
body  of  his  comrade  as  if  to  induce  him  to  get  up.  I  had 
the  other  barrel  still  loaded,  but  thought  it  would  be  like 
murder  to  injure  a  hair  of  the  little  creature. 

As  I  stepped  out  from  the  bushes,  the  fawn  stared  at 
me  with  astonishment  in  his  large  clear  eyes ;  probably 
he  had  never  seen  a  man  before.  He  then  flew  like  the 
wind  towards  his  dam,  but  stopping  now  and  then  as  if 
he  expected  his  comrade.  I  quickly  made  a  fire  on  the 
spot  to  roast  my  game,  putting  the  greater  part  of  the 
back  and  the  brisket  on  sticks  before  the  fire  with  hollow 
bark  underneath  to  catch  the  dripping  for  basting;  and 
a  delicious  meal  was  very  soon  the  result  of  this  simple 
proceeding. 

Next  day,  as  I  was  going  quietly  along  through  forest 
and  prairie,  looking  out  right  and  left  for  game  or  amuse- 
ment, I  caught  sight  of.  something  in  a  large  oak.  Fix- 
ing my  eyes  steadily  on  it,  and  coming  closer,  I  recog- 
nized the  glowing  eyes  of  a  panther  crouched  on  a  bxmgh, 
and  seemingly  ready  to  spring.  I  gave  him  both  barrels, 
one  after  the  other,  when  he  fell  from  the  tree,  and  died 
with  a  fearful  howl.  He  was  a  large  handsome  beast, 
of  an  ashy  gray  color,  and  measuring  from  seven  to  eight 
feet  from  the  nose  to  the  end  of  the  tail. 

It  was  well  that  I  had  venison  in  my  game-bag,  for 
the  panther  would  have  been  a  tough  morsel.  I  dragged 


68  HUNTING   SPORTS   OP  THE  WEST. 

the  rather  heavy  skin  with  me  till  the  evening,  and  slept 
soundly  on  it  for  my  trouble.  A  damp  fog  came  on  to- 
wards morning,  which  soon  turned  to  fine  penetrating 
rain,  seeming  to  foretell  a  disagreeable  day ;  but  as  I 
had  enjoyed  beautiful  weather  in  general,  I  could  not 
complain.  The  sky  became  quite  dark,  the  rain  fell 
heavier,  and  I  was  soon  wet  "through.  I  left  the  panther 
skin  where  I  had  slept,  so  that  I  had  no  heavy  burden 
to  carry.  I  found  my  stomach  beginning  to  loathe  the 
quantity  of  animal  food  that  was  put  into  it,  and  to  long 
for  bread,  but  I  was  obliged  to  divert  my  thoughts  from 
the  subject,  and  the  last  remains  of  the  venison  were  dis- 
creetly devoured.  Meantime  I  had  killed  a  turkey,  so 
that  at  all  events  I  had  something  in  store. 

My  plan  hitherto  had  been  to  push  on  to  the  nearest 
eastern  settlement ;  but  the  road  was  too  long  and  tedi- 
ous, so  I  turned  southwards,  in  order  afterwards  to  pro- 
ceed eastward  towards  Louisiana  and  the  Red  river. 
The  constant  rain  made  it  impossible  to  light  a  fire  this 
evening,  and  I  passed  a  miserable  night,  for  though  I 
tried  to  make  a  shelter  of  pieces  of  bark,  I  could  not 
manage  it ;  however,  the  night  came  at  last  to  an  end, 
and  cold,  cross,  and  hungry  as  a  lion,  I  went  along  with 
only  a  plucked  turkey  in  my  bag. 

About  noon  my  day's  journey  was  brought  to  an  un- 
expected end  by  a  river  that  had  overflowed  its  banks. 
The  rain  had  ceased,  so  that,  with  better  fortune  than 
yesterday,  I  succeeded  in  making  a  fire,  and  my  turkey, 
divided  into  four  quarters,  was  soon  in  front  of  it.  Now, 
comfortably  stretched  before  my  fire,  I  considered 
whether  I  should  cross  the  river ;  I  had  no  sort  of  busi- 


BEAR   SHOOTJNG.  69 

ness  on  the  other  side,  and  it  seemed  absurd  to  swim 
across  for  nothing — so  I  settled  on  quitting  Texas,  and 
returning  to  the  United  States.  If  I  had  a  friend  with 
me  I  could  have  gone  on  to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  but 
I  had  no  mind  to  do  it  alone.  When  I  had  finished  my 
repast,  I  got  up  and  made  my  way  in  an  E.  S.  E. 
direction. 

As  the  rain  had  left  off,  I  made  up  to-night  for  the 
wakefulness  of  the  last ;  when  I  awoke,  the  fire  had 
burnt  out,  and  the  sun  was  shining  through  the  bursting 
buds  of  the  trees.  I  had  a  good  wash  in  a  neighboring 
spring,  and  felt  like  a  giant  refreshed. 

After  taking  my  frugal  breakfast,  the  remains  of  yes- 
terday's meal,  I  drew  more  towards  the  east,  in  order 
the -sooner  to  fall  in  with  human  beings,  to  eat  bread, 
and  taste  salt.  I  had  occasionally  used  gunpowder  in- 
stead of  salt,  but  my  store  of  powder  was  not  sufficient 
for  such  a  luxury,  and  it  was  better  to  be  without  salt 
than  without  powder. 

Gun  on  shoulder,  I  trudged  slowly  and  surely  on,  over 
hill  and  dale,  through  prairies  and  forest  streams,  to- 
wards the  sun-rising,  taking  sharp  notice  of  all  around. 
While  thus  proceeding,  wrapped  in  my  thoughts  sud- 
denly something  rustled  in  a  bush  in  front  of  me,  and  a 
bear  started  out  and  took  to  flight.  My  ball  was  soon 
in  his  interior ;  on  being  hit,  he  stopped  and  looked 
round  at  me  in  a  fury.  Expecting  nothing  less  than  an 
attack,  I  quietly  cocked  the  other  barrel ;  but  his  inten- 
tions of  attacking  me,  seemed  to  pass  off,  and  he  crept 
into  a  thicket  instead.  I  quickly  loaded  with  ball,  and 
followed  him ;  as  I  approached,  he  retreated  slowly,  pro- 


70  HUNTING   S^)RTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

l>abl y  suffering  from  his  wound ;  as  soon  as  I  got  a  clear 
view  of  his  head,  I  fired  again,  but  only  grazed  his  skull. 
As  I  ran  towards  him,  his  fury  increased,  and  he  turned 
to  meet  me ;  on  taking  aim  with  my  second  barrel,  at 
about  thirty  paces,  it  missed  fire.  With  open  jaws,  and 
ears  laid  back,  he  rushed  towards  me ;  in  this  mortal 
danger  I  preserved  my  presence  of  mind.  Dropping  my 
gun,  and  drawing  my  knife,  I  sprang  back  a  couple  of 
paces,  behind  a  small  tree ;  at  this  moment,  the  bear  was 
only  a  few  feet  from  me.  As  he  rose  on  his  hind  legs  to 
embrace  me,  he  was  almost  as  tall  as  I,  and  his  fiery 
eyes  and  long  teeth  had  nothing  very  attractive ;  but  he 
was  not  destined  to  know  the  taste  of  my  flesh. 

I  was  quite  collected,  feeling  sure  that  one  or  the 
other  must  die.  The  moment  he  tried  to  grasp  me,  I 
thrust  my  long  double-edged  hunting  knife  into  the 
yawning  abyss  of  his  jaws,  and  boring  it  into  his  brain, 
I  brought  him  to  the  ground.  I  did  not  then  know  bet- 
ter, but  I  ought  to  have  sprung  back  after  wounding 
him,  and  then  I  should  have  escaped  unhurt.  As  it  was, 
he  dragged  away  my  coat  in  falling,  and  tore  my  arm 
slightly.  I  thanked  God  that  it  was  MO  worse.  There 
I  sat  on  the  sweet  smelling  heath,  with  my  coat  all  in 
rags,  and  no  other  to  put  on.  To  assuage  my  sorrow,  I 
cut  a  large  steak  from  the  bear,  which  tasted  particu- 
larly good  after  my  severe  exertions.  I  carried  away 
the  skin.  Iii  the  evening,  I  fell  in  with  a  herd  of  deer, 
but  did  not  fire  at  them,  as  I  was  well  provided  with 
meat. 

On  the  following  evening,  I  heard  a  shot.  The  sound 
ran  through  me  like  an  electric  shock.  There  were, 


LIFE   AMONQ   THE  INDIANS.  71 

then,  other  people  in  this  wilderness,  and  not  very  far 
off,  for  the  shooter  must  be  on  the  other  side  of  the  near- 
est hill.  I  turned  rapidly  in  the  direction  whence  the 
sound  came,  and  had  hardly  gained  the  crest  of  the  hill, 
when  a  romantic  and  variegated  scene  spread  itself  be- 
fore my  eyes. 

It  was  an  Indian  camp,  and  all  were  occupied  in 
pitching  their  tents,  and  preparing  for  the  night.  Here, 
were  some  cutting  tent-poles  with  their  tomahawks ; 
there,  women  collecting  firewood  for  cooking ;  men  se- 
curing the  horses  by  hobbling  their  forelegs ;  another 
skinning  a  deer.  In  short,  it  was  life  in  the  wilds  in 
highest  force.  I  should  never  have  tired  of  looking  at 
these  noble  muscular  figures,  their  faces  marked  with 
various  ochres,  their  heads  adorned  with  feathers,  and 
their  bright-colored  dresses. 

I  was  not  long  allowed  to  remain  a  spectator,  for  the 
dogs  barked  and  ran  at  me.  Breaking  off  a  green 
bough,  I  went  with  it  to  the  camp.  The  Indians  called 
off  the  dogs,  and  all  eyes  were  now  directed  towards  the 
stranger.  Going  up  to  a  group  of  young  men,  who  were 
stretching  a  deer-skin,  I  asked  -if  any  of  them  spoke 
English,  and  was  directed  to  an  elderly  man,  who  was 
sitting  smoking  under  a  tree,  and  watching  me.  I  told 
him  that  I  was  a  traveler,  that  I  wished  to  return  to  the 
banks  of  the  Red  river,  and  asked  if  I  could  pass  the 
ni«>ht  in  his  camp.  A  considerable  group  of  young  men 
had,  in  the  meantime,  assembled  round  us.  At  length 
the  old  man  asked,  "  Aje  white  men  so  scarce  that  you 
come  alone  into  the  wilderness?"  I  replied  that  I  liad 
only  conic  for  the  sake  of  shooting,  and  now  wished  to 


72  HUNTING  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

return.  Instead  of  an  answer,  he  silently  gave  me  his 
pipe,  out  of  which  I  took  a  few  whiffs,  and  then  handed 
it  to  one  of  the  Indians  standing  near  me.  He  did  the 
same,  and  returned  it  to  the  chief.  I  now  sat  down  be- 
side him.  He  asked  a  great  many  questions,  amongst 
others,  how  I  had  torn  my  coat  so  badly  ?  Whereupon 
I  related  my  affair  with  the  bear.  He  smiled,  and 
translated  my  account  to  the  others,  who  also  showed 
interest  in  my  adventure. 

The  chief  then  told  me  that  it  was  highly  dangerous 
for  any  one  unused  to  these  encounters,  to  risk  such  a 
fight,  and  that  it  was  necessary  to  spring  quickly  back 
after  the  thrust,  the  dying  bear  having  sometimes  suc- 
ceeded in  killing  his  enemy.  He  took  particular  notice 
of  my  double-barrelled  gun  and  hunting-knife,  and  said 
that  he  had  never  before  seen  two  barrels  joined  toge- 
ther. He  spoke  English  better  than  I  did,  and,  what 
was  very  agreeable,  he  spoke  slowly. 

The  Indians  belonged  to  the  Choctaw  tribe,  and  were 
come  out  of  Arkansas  in  search  of  game.  As  night 
came  on,  fires  were  burning  all  around  us,  and  the  wo- 
men, among  whom  were  some  beautiful  figures,  cooked 
the  suppers,  while  the  men  quietly  smoked  their  pipes. 
Finding  the  Indian  fashion  of  staring  at  the  fire,  rather 
tedious,  I  made  several  attempts  to  engage  the  chief  in 
conversation,  but  only  received  short  answers,  so  that  at 
last  there  was  nothing  left  for  it  but  to  play  the  Indian, 
and  maintain  a  dignified  silence. 

At  length  we  retired  to  rest.  I  slept  on  a  bear-skin 
beside  the  fire,  in  front  of  the  chief's  tent.  Before  sun- 
rise, I  was  awakened  by  the  noise  and  songs  of  the  In- 


AN  INDIAN  SHOOTING   PARTY.  73 

dians  who  were  preparing  for  a  shooting  excursion.  I 
jumped  up,  and  was  getting  ready  to  join  them,  but  soon 
remem-bered  that,  with  my  ragged  coat,  I  could  not  ven- 
ture among  the  thorns ;  I  should  have  been  caught  every 
moment.  I  showed  it  to  one  of  the  young  men,  he  im- 
mediately ran  off,  and  soon  returned  with  a  sort  of  coat, 
or  rather  hunting-shirt  made  out  of  a  blanket.  He 
made  signs  that  he  would  sell  it  to  me,  and  was  delighted 
to  receive  a  dollar  for  it,  with  the  rags  of  my  green  coat 
into  the  bargain.  For  a  second  dollar,  I  obtained  his 
embroidered  belt,  and  was  now  quite  set  up  again.  Re- 
solving to  be  quite  an  Indian  for  the  time,  I  left  my 
game  bag  in  the  camp. 

We  set  off,  sixteen  in  number,  all  on  foot,  some  of  the 
Indians  with  firearms,  others  with  bows  and  arrows,  with 
which  they  can  hit  their  mark  at  a  great  distance.  I 
attached  myself  to  one  of  the  young  men  with  a  bow 
and  arrows,  and,  as  we  could  not  understand  each  other's 
language,  we  proceeded  in  silence.  Each  of  us  had  pro- 
visions, which  we  ate  as  we  went  along.  It  may  have 
been  about  noon  when  we  saw  a  herd  of  deer.  My  com- 
panion went  round  to  gain  the  wind  of  them,  and  shot  a 
couple  with  his  unerring  arrows.  Away  flew  the  others 
in  headlong  fright,  coming  directly  towards  me,  in  such 
blind  haste,  that  the  leader  of  the  herd,  a  fat  buck  of 
eleven,  was  little  more  than  ten  paces  off,  when  he  dis- 
covered me.  My  ball  pierced  his  heart,  and  he  fell 
without  a  cry.  The  rest  flew  in  all  directions. 

We  were  obliged  to  return  to  the  camp  for  horses  to 
carry  our  booty.  My  companion  started  off  in  a  straight 
line  for  the  camp,  which  I  should  never  have  been  able 


74  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

to  find  again.  It  was  only  a  few  miles  distant,  although 
I- thought  it  must  he  at  least  half  a  day's  journey  hehind 
us.  On  arriving  at  the  camp,  we  each  mounted  on  'horse- 
hack,  and  rode  off  at  a  quick  trot  to  the  place  where  our 
game  lay,  which  we  found  without  difficulty,  the  Indian 
having  marked  several  trees  with  his  tomahawk  as  we 
returned.  The  last  prize  we  came  to  was  my  huck,  and 
on  him  we  saw  a  wild-cat  preparing  to  enjoy  itself.  The 
Indian  rushed  forward,  and  the  cat,  which  did  not  per- 
ceive him  till  too  late,  flew  up  a  tree,  whence  an  arrow 
from  the  sure  hand  of  my  companion  soon  hrought  it  to 
the  ground.  It  was  of  a  gray  color,  and  larger  than  the 
domestic  cat.  "When  these  animals  are  irritated  they 
will  attack  men :  my  comrade  carried  off  the  skin. 

We  rode  back  with  our  booty  to  the  camp,  and  were 
received  with  cheers.  The  party  all  returned  one  after 
the  other,  most  of  them  with  game,  one  with  an  immense 
bear  that  he  had  killed,  the  largest  I  had  yet  seen. 

While  cooking  was  going  on,  the  young  men  danced 
and  sang,  the  women  taking  no  part  in  their  amuse- 
ments, but  quietly  continuing  their  occupations. 

On  the  following  morning  the  chief  said  that  he  had 
set  a  wolf-trap,  and  we  went  to  see  if  anything  had  been 
caught.  As  there  was  plenty  of  food  in  the  camp,  we 
all  went  together,  except  three,  who,  having  killed  no- 
thing yesterday,  set  off  to  try  their  luck  again  to-day. 
We  took  four  large  strong  dogs  with  us,  and  followed  the 
chief.  With  a  triumphant  smile,  he  showed  me  where 
he  had  set  the  trap,  and  near  it  a  trace  of  blood ;  it  was 
shown  to  the  dogs,  and  they  followed  it  up  in  full  cry. 

After  running  about  a  mile,  they  barked  louder  and 


WOLF-TRAPS.  77 

louder.  We  hurried  on  as  fast  as  we  could,  and  found 
the  wolf  at  his  last  gasp  under  the  furious  attack  of  the 
dogs.  They  were  immediately  called  off,  and  appeared 
to  have  suffered  considerably,  particularly  one,  whose 
ear  the  wolf,  a  great  black  beast,  had  bitten  quite  away. 

These  traps  are  set  with  a  bait,  but  not  fastened,  for 
if  the  wolf  is  caught,  and  the  trap  should  be  immovable, 
he  would  bite  off  his  own  leg  sooner  than  let  himself  be 
taken.  So  the  trap  is  only  fastened  by  a  chain  to  an 
iron  clog  with  four  hooks  ;  as  soon  as  the  wolf  finds  him- 
self caught,  he  attempts  to  hurry  away  with  the  trap,  but 
is  detained  every  moment  by  the  hooks  catching  in  the 
roots  and  bushes  ;  yet  he  manages  to  get  clear  again,  and 
has  been  known  to  take  the  iron  clog  in  his  mouth — but 
the  trap .  still  remains  a  hinderance,  and  he  is  easily 
traced. 

By  this  time  I  had  enjoyed  Indian  life  long  enough, 
and  wished  myself  back  again  in  more  civilized  society ; 
yet  I  remained  another  day  with  them,  during  which  we 
shot  at  a  mark  with  bows  and  arrows,  and  I  caused  many 
a  smile  among  the  Indians,  as  I  shot  a  foot  wide  of  the 
mark,  which  they  seldom  missed.  We  next  threw  toma- 
hawks at  a  tree,  and  in  this  practice  I  was  rather  more 
successful. 

On  the  following  morning  I  resumed  my  journey  to  the 
east,  provided  with  venison  and  coarse  salt,  and  as  I  saw 
the  last  Indians  disappear  behind  the  trees,  it  seemed  as 
if  I  was  now  for  the  first  time  alone  in  the  forest ;  but  I 
soon  became  reaccustomed  to  my  former  life,  and  slept 
again  this  night,  as  well  as  a  man  can  sleep,  on  grass  and 
fragrant  moss. 


78  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

Kext  day  I  came  to  the  Sabine,  seeking  in  vain  for  a 
ford ;  and  as  the  river  was  considerably  swelled,  and 
seemed  wider  and  deeper  further  south,  there  was  nothing 
for  it  but  a  swim.  I  made  a  small  raft,  which  I  bound 
together  with  creepers,  and  securing  my  gun,  game-bag, 
knife,  tomahawk,  and  powder-horn  on  the  top  of  it,  I 
pushed  it  before  me  to  the  opposite  bank. 

On  the  30th  of  January,  as  I  arrived  at  the  Great  Red 
river',  I  saw  a  farm-house,  and  the  crow  of  a  cock  broke 
on  my  ear  as  the  music  of  the  spheres.  But  the  house 
was  on  the  other  side  of  the  broad  and  swollen  stream, 
which  rolled  along  its  dirty  red  waves  at  a  fearful  rate. 
In  vain  I  shouted  and  roared  myself  hoarse ;  a  shot  had 
no  better  effect.  I  had  made  up  my  mind  to  hide  my 
gun  and  other  things  in  the  bush,  and  swim  over,  when  a 
second  shot  roused  the  farmer's  attention.  He  came  to 
the  bank,  and  seeing  some  one  calling  and  beckoning  on 
the  opposite  side,  he  cast  off  his  canoe,  and  coming  cross, 
was  not  a  little  astonishing  at  finding  me  alone. 

I  received  a  hearty  welcome  from  his  family,  who  were 
exceedingly  amused  at  the  appetite  with  which  I  made 
the  bread  disappear,  and  at  my  enjoyment  of  the  coffee. 

As  I  did  not  wish  to  remain  here  long,  I  soon  came  to 
an  agreement  with  the  farmer  about  the  sale  of  his  canoe ; 
he  let  me  have  it  for  four  dollars,  throwing  a  smoked-  leg 
of  venison,  a  roast  turkey,  and  some  loaves  of  maize 
bread  into  the  bargain. 

I  was  soon  afloat  in  this  hollowed  trunk,  drifting  ra- 
pidly down  the  stream,  which  carried  gigantic  trees 
along  with  it.  The  light  craft  dashed  forward  like  an 
arrow  under  the  strokes  of  my  paddle,  so  that,  according 


NARROW  ESCAPE  FOR  MY  CANOE.  79 

to  a  reckoning  made  afterwards,  I  must  have  gone  about 
400  miles  in  five  days.  It  was  not  till  late  in  the  night 
that  I  ran  in  among  the  reeds,  and  slept  quietly  in  my 
own  property. 

On  the  day  after  my  departure,  I  fell  in  with  a  num- 
ber of  planks ;  they  had  probably  been  washed  away 
from  some  village  on  the  banks.  They  had  floated 
against  a  tree,  that  was  stuck  fast  in  the  bed  of  the 
river.  Intending  to  take  them  with  me,  in  the  hope  of 
making  something  by  their  sale,  I  paddled  to  the  tree, 
and,  in  attempting  to  secure  the  planks,  I  over-reached 
myself;  the  current  carried  away  the  canoe  from  under 
me,  and  in  an  instant  I  was  in  the  water,  holding  on  to 
the  bough  of  the  tree,  and  close  to  an  alligator.  Luckily, 
the  beast  was  as  much  afraid  of  me  as  I  of  him,  and  he 
disappeared  under  the  water.  I  quickly  swung  myself 
on  the  bough  to  reach  my  canoe,  but  too  late,  it  was 
already  in  the  full  strength  of  the  current,  leaving  me 
hanging  on  the  waving  bough,  with  canoe,  gun,  powder, 
and  all  that  I  possessed,  a  prey  to  the  waves.  I  saw 
perfectly  well,  at  once,  that  I  must  either  regain  my 
canoe,  or  perish  miserably  of  starvation,  so  I  let  go  the 
bough,  and  swam  with  all  my  might  towards  the  fugitive. 
It  cost  a  quarter  of  an  hour's  desperate  exertion  before 
I  reached  it,  and  then  I  had  to  push  her  to  the  bank,  in 
order  to  get  onboard,  for  any  attempt  to  do  so  in  the 
middle  of  the  stream,  would  have  upset  her.  In  regain- 
ing the  canoe  I  had  saved  my  life. 

When  my  store  of  provisions  was  exhausted,  I  shot 
wild  fowl,  and  got  them  cooked  at  the  nearest  planta- 


80  HUNTING   SPORTS    OF  THE  WEST. 

tion ;  for  now,  as  I  approached  Louisiana,  the  land  was 
more  occupied. 

Several  hundred  miles  above  its  junction  with  the  Mis- 
sissippi, the  Great  Red  river  is  blocked  up  by  numbers 
of  trees  that  have  been  carried  down  and  become  fixed, 
and  although  the  United  States  government  has  caused 
a  passage  for  steamers  to  be  cut  through  them,  yet  I 
was  advised  not  to  attempt  it  with  my  canoe,  because  the 
current  ran  through  it  with  such  force,  that  the  least  ob- 
stacle I  might  encounter,  would  infallibly  overset  the 
canoe.  I  was  therefore  obliged  to  traverse  two  lakes, 
called  Clear  Lake,  and  Soda  Lake,  which  are  connected 
with  the  river  above  and  below  the  Raft,  as  the  collec- 
tion of  matted  trees  is  called. 

I  saw  a  great  number  of  alligators  sunning  themselves 
on  the  warm  sands.  I  shot  ten  or  twelve  of  them, 
but  could  never  prevail  on  myself  to  touch  them. 
They  were  from  three  to  twelve  feet  long,  and  sometimes 
even  eighteen  feet.  Not  far  from  the  mouth  of  the  river, 
on  the  fifth  day,  just  about  dusk,  seeing  something  white 
in  the  water  ahead  of  me,  I  paddled  to  it,  and  laid  hold 
of  it,  but  drew  my  hand  back  with  a  shudder,  and  the 
blood  ran  cold  in  my  veins;  it  was  a  corpse;  the  naked 
white  back  alone  floated  above  the  surface,  head,  arms, 
and  legs  hanging  down ;  a  wound  several  inches  -long, 
was  visible  on  the  left  side,  just  under  the  ribs.  I  pad- 
dled hastily  away  in  sickening  disgust,  and  left  the  hor- 
rid object  behind  me. 

On  the  following  morning  I  entered  the  Mississippi, 
the  excessively  dirty  "  Father  of  Waters."  The  scenery 
assumed  a  more  tropical  character,  and  the  long  waving 


BY   STEAMER   TO   NEW  ORLEANS.  81 

moss  hanging  from  the  gigantic  trees,  gave  it  a  pecu- 
liarly strange  aspect.  After  entering  this  magnificent 
river,  I  took  on  board  fresh  provender,  not  far  from  the 
junction,  and  directed  my  course  towards  that  "  New 
Orleans,"  now  some  240  miles  distant,  about  which  I 
had  heard  so  much.  But  on  the  second  day,  when  I 
was  still  some  hundred  miles  from  it,  a  little  above  Ba- 
ton Rouge,  it  came  on  to  blow  fresh,  and  the  wind 
caused  such  a  swell  in  the  river,  that  I  could  no  longer 
keep  my  little  craft  free  of  water,  indeed  it  was  not  with- 
out great  effort  and  difficulty  that  I  was  able  to  reach 

the  shore. 

• 

There  was  a  farm  near  the  place  where  I  landed, 
whose  owner  had  a  quantity  of  wood  for  sale,  ready  cut, 
and  piled  up  for  the  use  of  steamers.  A  steamer  bound 
for  New  Orleans,  was  in  the  act  of  wooding  at  the  time. 
It  would  have  been  folly  to  have  attempted  to  continue 
the  voyage  in  such  a  swell  in  so  frail  a  craft  as  mine,  and 
as  I  found  the  farmer  willing  to  buy  her,  we  soon  agreed 
as  to  terms.  I  transferred  my  effects  to  the  steamer, 
and  late  on  the  same  evening,  arrived  at  New  Orleans. 

For  the  night  I  slept  on  board,  but  early  the  next 
morning  went  to  a  German  tavern  to  refresh  myself 
after  all  the  hardships  I  had  undergone,  and  to  sleep  in 
a  regular  bed.  Oh,  how  comfortably  I  stretched  myself 
on  the  soft  mattress !  I  got  up  very  early  to  have  a 
look  at  the  place,  having  no  wish  to  show  myself  in  the 
costume  of  a  savage,  when  the  streets  were  thronged. 
For  nine  months  my  hair  had  been  uncut,  and  during 
five,  no  razor  had  approached  my  chin  ;  then  what,  with 
my  old  woollen  hunting-shirt,  my  embroidered  belt,  and 
6 


82  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE   WEST. 

4fe 

the  high  waterproof  boots,  which  had  faithfully  held  out 
to  the  last,  people  would  have  thought  me  more  like  a 
scarecrow  than  a  human  being ;  my  first  visit  was  to  a 
barber. 

I  had  heard  too  much  boasting  and  bragging  about 
New  Orleans,  not  to  be  disappointed  in  my  expecta- 
tions. I  found  it  by  no  means  so  splendidly  or  so  taste- 
fully built  as  was  asserted,  and  as  I  walked  along  the 
narrow  streets  my  thoughts  wandered  to  the  far  more 
agreeable  Cincinnati.  The  only  handsome  building  in 
New  Orleans,  and  one  without  parallel,  is  the  St. 
Charles'  Hotel,  which  certainly  is  very  magnificent. 

It  is  no  wonder  that  the  air  of  New  Orleans  should  be 
generally  so  unhealthy,  and  in  autumn,  quite  pestilen- 
tial ;  for  the  town  is  built  in  a  complete  swamp,  and  re- 
quired to  be  protected  by  a  dam,  from  being  submerged 
by  the  river.  It  certainly  was  never  intended  by  nature 
for  the  abode  of  man ;  at  most,  it  is  fitted  for  alligators, 
frogs  and  mosquitoes.  It  is  the  churchyard  of  the  Uni- 
ted States. 


HUNTING  IN  ARKANSAS. 

Mr.  Gerstaecker,  in  the  course  of  his  wanderings, 
made  the  acquaintance  of  another  man,  as  fond  of  hunt- 
ing as  himself,  to  whom  he  gives  the  name  of  Slowtrap. 
We  suspect  that  this,  as  well  as  all  the  other  names  he 
gives  to  real  personages,  is  invented  for  the  occasion. 


HABITUAL   RESERVE   OF   THE   AMERICANS.  83 

The  following  is  an  account  of  his  visit  to  Slowtrap's 
dwelling  in  Arkansas ;  and  some  of  his  hunting  adven- 
tures in  company  with  his  hospitable  friend : 

At  length  the  swamps  were  behind  us.  We  crossed 
a  small  prairie,  passed  an  old  buffalo  salt-lick,  and  ar- 
rived at  Slowtrap's  dwelling,  planted  on  a  spur  of  the 
hills  which  ran  out  into  the  plains.  It  was  in  no  way 
different  from  the  usual  log-houses,  sixteen  feet  square, 
from  nine  to  ten  high,  with  an  enormous  fireplace,  no 
window,  and  weighted  roof;  close  by  was  afield  of  about 
seven  acres,  planted  with  maize.  His  wife  and  children 
stood  at  the  door  as  we  arrived,  and  although  I  knew 
that  they  were  much  attached  to  each  other,  and  lived 
happily  together,  and  he  had  been  about  three  weeks 
absent,  not  the  least  word' was  exchanged  that  could  be 
construed  into  a  greeting.  "  Take  my  saddle  in,"  said 
S.  to  his  eldest  son,  a  boy  of  eight  years  old,  who  was 
leaning  on  the  fence,  looking  at  us  as  if  we  were  perfect 
strangers,  in  whom  he  had  no  concern.  At  last,  when 
the  horse  was  cared  for,  and  all  things  in  their  places, 
S.  went  into  the  house,  took  a  seat,  and  lifted  his  young- 
est child  into  his  lap ;  and  then  he  said,  "  How  do  you 
do,  all  of  you?"  This  distant  reserve  of  the  Ame- 
ricans, so  prevalent  even  in  their  own  families,  often 
struck  cold  on  my  heart,  and  made  me  regret  my  native 
land.  Man  and  wife  are  often  as  reserved  towards  each 
other  as  two  strangers  .who  meet  for  the  first  time,  and 
care  not  about  meeting  again.  I  have  seen  Americans 
leave  home,  to  be  absent  for  months,  without  shaking 
hands  with  their  wives,  or  saying  "  good-bye,"  and  it  is 
the  same  on  their  return.  I  must  believe,  for  the  honor 


84  HUNTING   SPORTS   OP   THE  WEST. 

of  the  Americans,  that  this  reserve  is  mere  custom,  and 
does  not  proceed  from  any  real  want  of  affection,  as  I 
have  seen  proofs  of  deep  feeling  amongst  them,  but  it 
always  made  a  disagreeable  impression  on  me.  But  still 
worse  was  it  to  see  Germans  aping  this  fashion,  as  often 
happened  to  be  my  lot. 

When  quietly  seated,  I  took  a  survey  of  the  dwelling. 
In  two  corners  stood  two  large  beds,  covered  with  good 
stout  quilts  of  many  colors ;  between  the  beds,  about 
four  feet  from  the  ground,  was  a  shelf  holding  a  few 
more  quilts,  and  the  linen  of  the  family,  which  was  not 
over-abundant,  comprising  three  or  four  articles  for  each 
person.  Under  this  shelf  were  two  "gums,"  trunks  of 
a  hollow  tree,  about  a  foot  in  diameter,  and  two  and  a 
half  or  three  feet  high,  with  a  piece  of  board  nailed  on 
the  bottom.  They  are  applied  to  all  sorts  of  purposes : 
I  have  seen  them  used  as  beehives  ;  these,  I  subsequently 
found,  were  one  for  flour,  and  the  other  for  salt.  Two 
wooden  hooks  over  the  door,  supported  my  host's  long 
rifle,  with  his  powder-horn  and  shot-pouch.  A  shelf  held 
some  shoemaker's  tools,  leather,  &c.,  Gun's  Domestic 
Medicine,  a  family  Bible,  the  Life  of  Washington,  the 
Life  of  Marion,  Franklin's  Maxims,  an  almanac,  and  a 
well-worn  map  of  the  United  States.  Various  files, 
awls,  broken  knives,  and  a  bullet-mould,  were  stuck  into 
the  crevices  of  logs  near  the  fireplace.  On  the  left  of 
it  were  two  short  shelves,  with  four  plates,  two  cups, 
three  saucers,  some  tin  pots,  and  a  large  coffee-pot,  'all 
as  bright  and  clean  as  possible.  In  the  corner  of  the 
fireplace,  was  an  iron  pan  with  a  cover,  for  baking, 
bread,  and  two  saucepans,  one  broken.  Several  joints 


MECHANICAL  INGENUITY   OF   BACKWOODSMEN.       85 

of  smoked  meat  hung  from  the  roof,  surrounded  by 
strips  of  dried  pumpkin,  suspended  on  poles. 

The  above-named  boy,  a  girl  of  ten,  a  blue-eyed,  flaxen- 
haired,  rosy-cheeked  girl  of  four,  diligently  munching  a 
bunch  of  wild  grapes,  and  the  little  one  on  my  friend's 
lap,  formed  the  family;  they  all  looked  shyly  at  me, 
tkough  they  had  seen  me  six  months  before,  so  that  I 
was  not  quite  a  stranger  to  them. 

We  had  agreed  to  set  off  for  the  mountains  at 'once — 
but  Slowtrap  found  some  business  to  detain  him  at  home, 
so  it  was  put  off  till  the  next  week,  and  I  amused  myself 
in  the  mean  time  as  well  as  I  could ;  and  as  I  was  ac- 
quainted with  the  country,  I  took  my  rifle,  and  paid  a 
few  visits  to  old  acquaintances,  returning  to  Slowtrap's 
on  the  12th  December,  partly  on  account  of  the  cold  wet 
weather,  and  partly  to  mend  my  moccasins,  which  had 
suffered  severely  from  the  sharp  stones  of  these  moun- 
tains. Slowtrap  happened  to  be  mending  a  pair  of  shoes 
at  the  same  time.  It  is  a  general  practice  with  the  back- 
woodsmen to  make  their  own  shoes,  and  a  regular  shoe- 
maker is  a  scarce  article  in  this  part  of  the  world.  As 
they  are  thrown  on  their  own  resources  from  their  youth, 
these  Americans  are  very  skillful  in  providing  for  their 
necessary  wants,  and  are  particularly  expert  with  the 
axe,  which  they  begin  to  wield  as  soon  as  their  arms  are 
strong  enough  to  lift  it.  They  use  it  for  a  variety  of 
purposes — building  houses,  laying  roofs  and  floors,  form- 
ing the  chimneys  and  doors,  the  only  other  tool  used  be- 
ing an  auger ;  and  nothing  amuses  them  more  than  to  see 
the  awkwardness  of  a  new  comer,  when  first  he  handles 
an  axe.  Besides  making  their  own  shoes,  they  under 


86  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE  WEST. 

stand  enough  of  tanning  to  prepare  the  leather ;  they 
make  their  own  ploughs,  dig  wells,  &c. ;  for  all  which 
operations  Europeans  require  so  many  different  work- 
men. 

As  we  sat  together  before  the  fire,  there  was  no  dif- 
ficulty in  getting  Slowtrap  to  relate  some  of  his  adven- 
tures with  the  Indians  in  his  early  days.  In  the  evening 
we  brought  in  some  pumpkins,  and  as  we  cut  them  into 
thin  rings  to  hang  on  the  poles  to  dry  he  began  to  speak 
in  the  following  words  of  the  perils  he  had  been  exposed 
to  in  Kentucky,  and  his  narrow  escapes  from  the  Indians  : 
"  Kentucky  was  at  that  time  a  wilderness,  when  my  father, 
my  uncle,  and  myself,  arrived  near  the  dwelling  of  Daniel 
Boone,  to  look  about  for  a  spot  that  would  suit  us;  for 
North  Carolina,  where  we  then  lived,  began  to  be  too 
populous,  and  a  man  who  wanted  to  shoot  a  turkey  or 
partridge  was  tired  before  he  had  walked  half  an  hour, 
from  the  number  of  fences  he  was  obliged  to  climb  over. 
I  was  then  just  eighteen,  as  strong  as  a  four-year-old  bear, 
and  was  delighted  at  the  thought  of  meeting  the  Indians. 
It  was  about  this  time  of  the  year,  and  the  game  we  saw 
made  our  hearts  bound :  numbers  of  bears,  deer,  and  buf- 
faloes ;  while  the  turkeys  would  hardly  get  out  of  our 
way.  It  would  tire  you  to  tell  you  of  all  the  sport  we 
had,  for  no  country  in  the  world  could  boast  of  more  game 
than  Kentucky  thirty  years  ago ;  but  now  it  is  no  better 
there  than  it  was  then  in  North  Carolina,  and  five  years 
hence,  a  man  who  wants  to  shoot  a  bear  in  Arkansas, 
will  have  many  a  weary  mile  to  tramp.  One  evening  we 
arrived  at  the  edge  of  a  cane-brake,  and  as  there  was 
good  feeding  for  the  horses,  we  resolved  to  pass  the  night 


AN   INDIAN   ADVENTURE.  87 

there.  We  hobbled  the  forelegs  of  the  horses  with  some 
bark  of  the  papao  tree,  and  hung  a  bell  round  the  neck  of 
niy  uncle's  mare.  Yet,  not  being  sure  of  escaping  the 
vigilance  of  the  Indians,  we  kept  watch  by  turns.  Noth- 
ing suspicious  occurred  till  about  midnight,  when  the 
sound  of  the  bell  ceased,  which  I,  having  the  watch  at 
the  time,  thought  rather  extraordinary,  as  the  horses 
were  not  in  the-habit  of  lying  down  till  morning.  The 
dogs  also  were  restless,  particularly  a  greyheaded  bear- 
hound,  who  gave  a  howl  when  the  wind  came  from  the 
quarter  where  the  horses  had  been  left.  I  did  not  awake 
the  two  seniors,  but  I  passed  an  anxious  night.  Towards 
morning  I  heard  the  bell  again,  but  further  off,  and  more 
to  the  right.  My  father  woke  about  daybreak,  and  I 
told  him  what  had  disquieted  me.  It  seemed  rather  sus- 
picious to  him  also,  but  he  thought  the  horses  might  per- 
haps have  strayed  a  little  in  search  of  fresh  reeds.  As 
soon  as  it  was  broad  daylight,  he  took  his  bridle  and  rifle, 
and  went  with  'Watch,'  the  old  dog,  towards  the  sound 
of  the  bell,  to  bring  back  the  horses.  My  uncle  woke  in 
the  mean  time.  We  had  set  a  delicate  morsel  to  broil. 
I  was  catching  the  dripping  from  some  roasting  bear's 
meat,  in  a  piece  of  hollow  bark,  to  baste  the  turkey,  when 
my  father  came  back  without  the  horses,  and  said  he  had 
found  infallible  traces  of  Indians  near  our  camp.  My 
uncle  wished  to  examine  the  marks ;  so  we  shouldered 
our  rifles,  and  proceeded  to  the  place  where  the  horses 
had  been  feeding  the  evening  before.  In  one  rather 
moist  place  there  was  a  very  clear  impression  of  a  moc- 
casin, and  one  of  the  savages  had  inconsiderately  stepped 
on  the  trunk  of  a  fallen  tree,  which  being  rotten,  had 


, 


88  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

yielded  to  his  weight,  leaving  the  mark  of  a  foot.  While 
examining  it,  we  heard  a  noise  in  the  canes.  In  an  in- 
stant our  rifles  were  all  directed  to  the  spot ;  but  it  was 
only  my  horse  sticking  his  head  out  of  the  canes,  and 
neighing  at  sight  of  us.  My  uncle  now  settled  that,  as 
he  was  best  acquainted  with  the  cunning  and  tricks  of 
the  Indians,  he  would  seek  the  horses  alone,  and  nothing 
we  urged  could  dissuade  him  from  his  purpose.  IJe  took 
my  father's  bridle,  and  my  horse,  and  was  soon  mounted, 
slowly  and  cautiously  following  up  the  trail.  Losing 
sight  of  him,  we  went  back  to  the  camp  to  look  after  our 
breakfast,  which  we  had  forgotten  in  the  first  excitement. 
We  remained  constantly  listening  for  the  sound  of  the 
bell,  when  we  heard  a  shot,  and  directly  afterwards  three 
more  in  quick  succession.  We  were  up  in  an  instant, 
started  towards  the  sound,  and  soon  heard  the  gallop  of 
a  horse,  and  saw  my  uncle  advancing  a"t  full  speed. 
When  he  reached  us  he  pulled  up  short,  so  that  the  horse 
reared.  His  eyes  were  glazed ; — he  was  very  pale,  reeled 
in  his  saddle,  and  fell  into  my  arms,  which  I  extended  to 
receive  Jiim.  It  was  well  for  us  that  the  Indians  had  not 
followed  him,  or  we  should  have  fallen  an  easy  prey. 
My  uncle  recovered  after  a  short  time,  and  told  us,  with 
failing  voice,  that  as  he  was  following  up  the  trail,  he  dis- 
tinctly heard  the  bell  again  at  a  little  distance,  and  rid- 
ing cautiously  forward,  rather  distrustful  of  the  deep 
silence,  he  saw  my  father's  horse  standing  by  a  fallen* 
tree.  He  rode  up  to  him,  keeping  a  sharp  look-out  all 
round ;  and  just  as  he  leaned  over  to  take  hold  of  the 
bell-strap  which  was  round  his  neck,  an  Indian  appeared 
not  fifteen  paces  off,  took  aim,  and  fired ;  feeling  himself 


INDIAN  ADVENTURE — RACCOON   SHOOTING.          89 

hit,  he  let  go  the  horse,  brought  forward  his  rifle,  and 
fired,  when  more  dark  figures  appeared  right  and  left. 
He  turned  his  horse,  and  gave  him  the  spurs.  He  sank 
fainting  to  the  ground,  and  the  dark  blood  flowed  out  as 
we  opened  his  clothes.  He  was  hit  in  three  places,  and 
two  of  the  wounds  were  mortal.  After  a  few  minutes 
he  raised  himself  again,  gave  us  each  a  hand,  which  we 
pressed  in  silence,  drew  a  deep  breath,  and  fell  back  a 
corpse.  We  buried  him  on  the  spot,  and  vowed  a  deep 
revenge,  which  we  faithfully  consummated :  a  few  nights 
afterwards,  the  wolves  were  tearing  the  flesh  from  three 
corpses  over  the  fresh  grave." 

Having  finished  his  tale,  my  host  sat  for  some  time 
with  his  head  leaning  on  his  hand,  thinking  of  times  long 
past.  His  wife  had  fallen  asleep :  she  had,  probably, 
heard  the  tale  many  times  before,  and  as  it  was  rather 
late,  we  were  all  glad  to  retire. 

The  dogs  barked  several  times  during  the  night,  and 
about  an  hour  and  a  half  before  daylight,  they  were 
quite  furious ;  supposing  their  excitement  to  be  caused 
by  raccoons,  or  opossums,  we  started  up,  and  took  our 
guns,  called  the  dogs,  and  went  into  the  piercing  cold 
morning  air,  though  it  was  too  dark  to  see  one's  hand ; 
my  thin  deer-skin  moccasins  were  soon  frozen,  which  by 
no  means  added  to  my  agreeable  sensations.  The  bark 
of  the  dogs  soon  showed  that  they  had  chased  something 
to  a  tree.  As  our  feet  were  dreadfully  cold,  and  it  was 
still  too  dark  to  shoot,  we  lighted  a  fire,  and  though  the 
dogs  enjoyed  its  warmth,  they  never  forgot  the  object  of 
our  being  there,  keeping  their  eyes  fixed  on  the  tree,  and 
giving,  from  time  to  time,  a  short  impatient  howl.  At 


90  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

length  a  gleam  appeared  in  the  east ;  gradually  the  forms 
of  the  nearest  objects  became  visible ;  as  the  light  in- 
creased, we  could  make  out,  on  one  of  the  upper  branches 
of  a  tree,  a  dark  spot,  which  afterwards  was  distinctly 
seen  to  be  a  raccoon.  S —  raised  his  rifle  slowly,  and 
took  aim;  the  dogs  jumped  up,  and  looked  to  and  fro 
from  the  muzzle  of  the  gun  to  the  dark  spot  on  the  tree, 
giving  a  slight  whine — the  piece  became  steady — a  flash — 
a  sharp  report — and  the  creature  fell  dead  from  the  top 
of  the  tree.  The  dogs  seized  it  instantly,  and  it  cost 
some  trouble  to  rescue  it  from  their  fangs,  before  the  skin 
was  quite  spoiled. 

We  returned  to  the  house,  and  rested  again  till  break- 
fast. After  breakfast  I  went  out  to  shoot  turkeys,  which 
were  very  numerous ;  but  when  I  descended  to  the  lower 
valley  of  the  river,  I  found  such  an  abundance  of  winter 
grapes,  that  I  thought  no  more  of  my  shooting,  but 
gathering  a  good  quantity,  I  lay  down  under  a  tree  to 
enjoy  them.  After  lying  there  about  a  couple  of  hours, 
I  was  rousecl  by  hearing  the  turkeys  calling ;  so,  hiding 
myself  behind  a  fallen  tree,  I  "used  my  decoy  pipe,  and 
ten  or  a  dozen  stout  fellows  came  strutting  along.  When 
they  arrived  within  about  twenty  paces  I  gave  a  whistle, 
which  brought  them  to  a  stand,  and  I  shot  the  largest 
through  the  head.  Satisfied  with  my  prize,  I  returned 
to  the  house,  and  found  that  the  grapes  had  quite  spoiled 
my  dinner. 

As  the  weather  turned  out  fine  and  warm  in  the  after- 
noon, determined  to  hunt  in  the  wood  for  a  swarm  of 
wild  bees,  which  we  had  sought  for  in  vain  about  six 


BEE-HUNTING  IN  THE  BACKWOODS.  91 

months  before.  We  took  some  bait  with  us,  and  went 
to  a  spot  about  half  a  mile  off. 

To  induce  bees  to  take  bait  in  the  fall  of  the  year, 
the  hunter  looks  out  for  a  small  open  space  in  their 
neighborhood,  and  if  he  cannot  find  one,  he  must  make 
a  clearance  with  his  knife  and  tomahawk,  stick  a  branch 
upright  in  the  ground,  and  lay  some  leaves  on  it,  spread 
with  a  little  thinned  honey.  The  bees  soon  discover  it, 
and  when  they  have  got  as  much  of  the  honey  as  they 
can  carry,  they  rise  in  circles,  which  become  larger  and 
larger,  till  they  attain  a  certain  height,  then  they  dash 
off  direct  for  their  own  tree,  to  deposit  their  store  in  the 
general  warehouse.  The  bee-hunter  must  take  particu- 
lar notice  of  the  line  of  their  flight,  which  requires  a 
good  eye,  and  then  carry  his  bait  some  two  hundred 
yards  further  in  that  direction,  when  the  bees . will  soon 
flock  round  it  again.  If,  when  loaded,  they  keep  the 
same  course,  it  is  a  sign  that  ther  tree  is  still  in  that  di- 
rection, and  the  bait  must  be  carried  further,  until  they 
fly  the  other  way.  Then  the  bee-hunter  will  know  that 
he  has  passed  the  tree,  and  that  it  must  be  between  his 
present  and  his  last  station,  and  he  is  not  long  in  find- 
ing it.  When  he  comes  near  the  tree,  and  the  bees  are 
at  work,  their  unsteady. zigzag  flight  will  betray  its  prox- 
imity. 

The  first  time  we  moved  our  bait,  the  bees  flew  back- 
ward, so  we  knew  that  we  could  not  be  more  than  a  hun- 
dred yards  from  their  tree ;  but  the  approaching  night 
prevented  our  discovering  it.  Next  morning,  about  ten 
o'clock,  as  it  began  to  get  warm,  we  returned  to  our 
hunt,  and  in  less  than  half  an  hour,  found  the  hole  where 


92  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE  WEST. 

the  little  laborers  were  passing  in  and  out.  It  was  in  a 
nearly  decayed,  not  very  large  post-oak,  a  tree  that  pre- 
fers moist  soils,  though  it  also  grows  on  hills.  It  bears 
small  and  rather  sweet  acorns ;  its  wood  is  very  durable, 
and  will  remain  long  in  the  ground  without  rotting. 
I  rode  hastily  back  to  the  house,  for  we  had  taken  a 
horse  with  us  for  the  chase,  and  returned  with  a  pail,  an 
axe,  a  knife,  and  a  spoon.  The  tree  soon  fell  u^der  our 
blows — smoke  was  made,  the  bees  stupefied,  an  opening 
cut,  and  a  most  beautiful  sight  for  a  bee-hunter  pre- 
sented itself,  in  a  number  of  well-filled  cells.  We  filled 
the  pail  with  the  best,  ate  as  much  as  our  stomachs 
would  bear,  set  the  tree  on  fire,  that  the  bees  might  not 
lead  us  astray  in  our  next  hunt,  and  returned  to  the 
house. 

As  there  were  several  things  to  be  done  about  the 
house,  we  remained  at  home,  cut  down  firewood,  and 
carried  it  to  the  house,  ground  flour  in  Slowtrap's  excel- 
lent steel  mill,  and  when  the  .evening  shadows  began  to 
lengthen  fast,  we  sat  by  the  fire,  and  the  old  fellow,  ren- 
dered good-humored  fry  the  successful  bee-hunt,  began 
again  with  his  stories.  In  the  course  of  the  day,  we  had 
seen  a  man  pass  by  with  a  smooth-bored  gun,  and  as 
such  a  thing  was  a  rarity  in  the  backwoods,  the  conver- 
sation turned  on  this  circumstance.  He  said  :  "I  once 
had  a  smooth-bored  gun,  called  a  musket,  and  not  far 
from  the  house  where  we  then  lived,  was  a  small  lake, 
generally  covered  with  wild  fowl.  One  morning  I  took 
the  old  thumper,  for  it  kicked  tremendously,  and  lounged 
towards  the  lake  to  have  a  shot.  I  had  not  gone  far 
along  the  bank,  when  I  saw  through  a  gap,  a  number  of 


DUCK-SHOOTING — CURLY   THE   SETTLER.  93 

ducks  swimming  quietly  on  the  other  side  of  a  thick 
bush  ;  a  fallen  tree  stretching  out  into  the  lake,  seemed 
to  offer  a  good  bridge  to  approach  them  by.  When  I 
got  to  the  end  of  it,  and  was  about  sixty  yards  from  the 
birds,  I  raised  the  heavy  old  musket  to  take  aim,  but 
knowing  how  old  kill-devil  kicked,  I  leant  as  far  for- 
ward as  possible,  with  the  firm  conviction  that  the  recoil 
would  drive  me  back  on  the  tree.  Three  ducks  were 
swimming  in  a  line,  and  thinking  this  a  good  chance,  I 
pulled  the  trigger,  leaning,  if  possible,  still  further  for- 
ward in  the  act;  but  it  only  snapped,  the  expected  recoil 
failed,  and  I  fell  head  over  heels  into  the  lake.  I  had 
some  trouble  in  getting  back  again  to  the  shore,  and 
never  saw  ducks  or  musket  again." 

The  sky  seemed  to  promise  a  continuance  of  fine 
weather,  and  as  there  was  no  prospect  at  present  of 
Slowtrap's  visit  to  the  mountains,  I  resolved  to  take  a 
little  shooting  excursion  alone.  The  shooting  on  the 
north  of  the  river  was  not  so  good  as  on  the  south,  as 
there  were  fewer  settlements ;  so  I  determined  to  cross 
over,  and  try  my  luck.  A  young  man  of  the  name  of 
Curly,  lived  close  to  the  south  bank ;  he  was  certainly 
strongly  suspected  of  horse-stealing,  but  in  other  respects 
was  a  good  fellow,  and  a  capital  sportsman ;  his  little 
weakness  respecting  horse-flesh  was  a  matter  of  indiffer- 
ence to  me,  he  could  not  steal  any  of  mine,  so  I  went  to 
the  river  and  hailed,  when  he  soon  brought  his  canoe 
and  carried  me  across. 

He  was  easily  persuaded  to  accompany  me  for  a  few 
days,  first  requesting  time  to  prepare  some  provisions. 
He  lived  in  a  small  block-house,  close  to  the  river,  sur- 


94  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

rounded  by  trees,  and  without  an  inch  of  cultivated  land  ; 
he  subsisted  mostly  by  shooting.  He  had  only  lately 
arrived ;  his  mother,  wife,  and  sister  lived  in  the  house 
with  him.  As  he  had  no  flour  in  store,  it  was  necessary 
to  grind  some,  but  his  mill  was  more  like  a  mortar  than 
anything  else.  Such  mills  are  frequent  in  Arkansas. 
A  sound  tree  is  cut  off  about  three  feet  from  the  ground, 
and  hollowed  by  fire,  knife,  and  chisel,  till  it  will  hold 
about  as  much  as  a  pail ;  it  is  made  as  smooth  as  possi- 
ble, and  a  logger-head,  or  pestle  of  hard  wood,  is  sus- 
pended to  a  balanced  pole,  such  as  is  frequently  fitted  to 
wells.  It  may  be  imagined  that  pounding  corn  in  this 
way  is  hard  work,  and  as  only  a  small  quantity  at  a  time 
can  be  prepared,  it  has  to  be  done  before  every  meal ;  but 
this  is  the  only  resource  of  all  those  who  are  too  poor  to 
buy  a  steel  mill.  At  last  Curly  had  as  much  as  would 
serve  for  two  days,  in  case  we  shot  nothing.  He  rolled 
up  in  his  blanket  all  the  things  he^  meant  to  take,  hung 
his  tin  pot  and  tomahawk  to  his  belt,  and  off  we  set  into 
the  glorious  freedom  of  the  forest. 

We  might  have  gone  about  three  miles,  when  we  came 
on  the  trail  of  several  deer,  though  we  had  seen  nothing 
of  the  precious  creatures  themselves  ;  and  as  it  began  to 
grow  dark,  and  we  found  ourselves  near  a  bubbling 
spring,  and  a  black  hawberry  bush  looked  very  attrac- 
tive, we  resolved  'to  camp  there,  and  to  begin  our  sport 
as  early  as  possible  in  the  morning.  We  cast  off  our 
blankets,  laid  down  our  rifles,  and  collected  wood  for  a 
fire,  the  night  promising  to  be  rather  cold.  We  soon 
had  a  fire,  of  which  a  volcano  need  not  have  been 
ashamed,  and  lay  down  to  repose.  Our  supper  consisted 


A  PRIZE — CURLY'S  MISHAP.  95 

of  dried  venison,  slices  of  bacon,  maize  bread,  and  cof- 
fee ;  a  princely  repast  for  the  forest ;  but  we  hoped  to 
have  fresh  meat  on  the  morrow. 

We  breakfasted  with  the  first  gleam  of  light,  fed  the 
dogs,  and  related  stories  until  it  was  light  enough  to  see 
the  sights  on  the  muzzles  of  the  rifles ;  then  taking  our 
preconcerted  directions,  we  trod  lightly  and  cautiously 
over  the  dried  leaves.  A  little  before  sunrise  I  heard 
the  crack  of  Curly's  rifle  ;  a  few  minutes  later  a  second 
report,  then  a  third.  I  stood  still  for  about  a  quarter 
of  an  hour,  in  case  a  frightened  deer  should  bound  past. 
Nothing  moved ;  I  continued  my  march.  I  had  not 
gone  far  when  I  saw  a  majestic  buck  at  a  walk.  I  crept 
lightly  to  a  right  angle  with  ,hkcourse ;  when  about 
eighty  yards  off,  I  gave  a  hail :  he  stopped,  and  my  ball 
pierced  his  shoulder ;  after  a  few  bounds,  he  lay  strug- 
gling in  the  yellow  leaves.  Bearsgrease  rushed  after  him, 
but  finding  him  already  dead,  he  only  licked  the  wound, 
and  lay  quietly  beside  him,  waiting  for  his  share  of  the 
prize.  I  took  the  skin  and  the  two  legs,  hanging  the 
latter  on  a  tree  with  the  skin  over  them,  cut  a  few  bits 
of  the  rest  for  Bearsgrease,  leaving  the  remainder  for  the 
wolves  and  vultures,  and  continued  my  march.  Soon 
after  I  heard  a  shot,  about  a  hundred  yards  off  on  the 
other  side  of  a  thick  jungle,  and  proceeded  towards  the 
sound.  It  turned  out  to  be  Curly,  who  had  killed  a  tur- 
key ;  he*  was  lying  under  a  tree,  and  told  me,  with  a 
mournful  visage,  that,  having  wounded  a  buck,  he  was 
following  him  over  some  loose  stones,  when  he  sprained 
his  ankle,  and  could  hardly  move,  being  obliged  to  leave 
the  wounded  deer  to  its  fate. 


96  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

As  we  had  traversed  the  country  in  a  circle,  we  were 
not  far  from  our  last  night's  camp.  I  helped  him  to  it 
as  well  as  I  could,  and  both  heing  hungry,  we  roasted  the 
turkey.  But  Curly  had  lost  all  heart  for  shooting,  and, 
with  the  help  of  a  big  stick,  limped  slowly  homewards, 
where  he  could  lay  up  his  leg  to  nurse.  I  could  not  tear 
myself  away  so  soon,  and  continued  my  sport  alone. 

As  the  sky  grew  cloudy  and  threatening,  I  made  a 
tent  of  my  blanket,  and  collected  wood  enough  to  defy 
any  quantity  of  rain  that  might  fall.  When  all  this  was 
arranged,  I  went  to  the  tree  where  I  had  left  my  venison 
and  skin,  and  to  give  Bearsgrease  another  feed  from  the 
carcase.  But  I  was  too  late ;  the  vultures  had  left  noth- 
ing but  the  bones,  and  had  torn  the  skin  on  the  tree, 
which,  however,  I  was  in  time  to  rescue,  and  hanging  it 
over  my  shoulders,  with  the  legs  safe  in  my  arms,  I  re- 
turned to  my  camp.  Having  made  a  good  fire,  and 
roasted  a  slice  of  meat,  the  coffee  being  all  gone,  and  the 
bread  reduced  to  one  small  piece,  I  fed  my  dog,  and  lay 
down  to  repose.  About  midnight  I  was  awakened  by  a 
formidable  thunderstorm.  Bearsgrease  began  to  howl 
dreadfully,  and  close  behind  me  an  oak  burst  into  flames. 
Flash  followed  flash,  while  the  thunder  was  incessant; 
the  whole  forest  seemed  to  swim  in  a  lake  of  fiery  brim- 
stone, the  rain  poured  in  torrents,  and  the  little  stream 
swelled  to  a  foaming  river.  When  the  storm  ceased, 
silence  and  darkness  took  its  place,  only  disturbed  by  the 
rustling  of  the  rain  falling  perpendicularly  on  the  leaves. 
My  blanket  protected  me  well ;  I  was  perfectly  dry,  and 
soon  fast  asleep  again.  Towards  morning  it  cleared  up, 
and  the  weather  was  the  most  glorious  for  shooting  that 


AN   UNPLEASANT   NOCTURNAL  VISITOR.  97 

could  possibly  be  imagined.  I  was  on  foot  by  daybreak, 
and  by  ten  o'clock  I  had  three  deer  hanging  to  the  trees. 
My  last  night's  repose  having  been  broken  by  the  storm, 
and  yesterday's  and  to-day's  exertions  having  fatigued 
me  very  much,  I  threw  myself  under  a  tree,  and  enjoyed 
a  delightful  nap.  The  sun  was  near  the  horizon  when  I 
awoke,  and  there  was  hardly  time  for  me  to  return  to 
camp  and  collect  wood  before  dark,  for  the  night  threat- 
ened to  be  very  cold :  but  it  was  bright  starlight,  and  my 
blanket  was  dry, — so  I  rolled  myself  comfortably  in  its 
folds. 

I  lay  awake  till  past  midnight,  giving  the  reins  to  my 
imagination ;  and  when  I  fell  asleep  I  dreamed  of  stretched 
deerskins,  and  that  Bearsgrease  was  chasing  an  immense 
buck,  when  his  loud  barking  and  howling  awoke  me.  I 
patted  him  to  keep  him  quiet,  and  found  his  hair  all  brist- 
ling up.  I  thought  wolves  must  be  near  us ;  and  listen- 
ing attentively,  I  heard  the  cautious  tread  of  some  heavy 
beast  over  the  dry  frosty  leaves. 

I  laid  some  dry  fir  branches,  which  were  near  me,  on 
the  fire,  to  make  it  burn  up  bright,  and  placed  myself 
between  it  and  the  noise  of  the  footsteps,  in  order  to  dis- 
tinguish the  eyes  of  my  untimely  visitor,  and  shoot  him. 
Three  times  I  caught  sight  of  two  glowing  balls,  and  from 
their  rapid  disappearance  I  was  convinced  that  I  had  to 
do  with  a  panther.  He  went  round  and  round  the  fire 
several  times,  but  never  close  enough  for  me  to  distin- 
guish his  form ; — and  I  passed  half  an  hour  with  my  rifle 
at  my  cheek,  in  the  greatest  anxiety,  the  dog  pressing 
close  to  my  side,  with  all  his  nerves  on  the  stretch,  fol- 
7 


98  HUNTING   SPOUTS   OP  THE  WEST. 

lowing  the  tread  of  the  panther,  and  giving  a  fearftd 
howl  every  time  he  passed  across  the  wind. 

The  brute,  not  possessing  courage  enough  to  attack, 
at  length  withdrew ;  but  I  remained  a  good  quarter  of 
an  hour  longer  on  the  watch,  till  the  dog,  persuaded  that 
all  was  safe,  had  lain  down  again,  when  I  followed  his 
example,  wrapped  myself  in  my  blanket,  and  was  soon 
fast  asleep. 

The  morning  was  bitterly  cold ;  and  as  I  had  nothing 
on  my  feet  but  a  pair  of  thin  deer-skin  moccasins,  not 
even  stockings,  I  thought  of  a  plan  I  had  learned  from 
an  old  sportsman,  and  bathed  my  feet  in  the  icy  cold 
water  of  the  stream,  dried  them  well,  and  put  on  my 
moccasins.  My  feet  were  soon  in  a  glow,  and  remained 
warm  all  the  morning. 

I  started  at  daylight,  and  followed  the  course  of  the 
stream  downwards;  but  the  bushes  grew  thicker  and 
thicker,  and  I  was  about  returning  to  cross  the  hill  to 
another  brook,  when  I  caught  sight  of  a  noble  stag  in 
the  thicket  on  my  right.  I  crept  quickly  and  silently 
round  the  bush  to  cut  him  off,  when  suddenly  I  heard  a 
most  heart-rending  cry  from  a  deer.  My  first  impulse 
was  to  rush  towards  the  sound,  and  on  the  first  move- 
ment I  made  for  this  purpose,  Bearsgrease  bounded  for- 
wards ;  but  I  thought  better  of  it,  and  a  sharp  whistle 
stopped  the  dog  in  his  career.  A  second  fainter  whistle 
brought  him  to  my  side ;  then,  hiding  behind  a  tree,  I 
reflected  on  what  was  best  to  be  done. 

The  shriek  certainly  came  from  a  deer,  and  nothing 
but  a  panther  could  have  caused  it;  for  if  it  had  been  a 


SHOOTING   A   PANTHER.  99 

wolf,  all  would  not  have  been  silent  again  so  soon,  as  a 
wolf  could  not  have  overpowered  a  deer  so  quickly. 

Now,  I  had  often  heard  from  Americans  how  the  pan- 
ther darts  on  his  prey,  kills  it  in  an  instant,  and,  after 
eating  his  fill,  buries  or  covers  up  the  rest  for  a  future 
meal.  I  resolved  to  try  and  make  sure  of  the  panther, 
and,  if  possible,  to  creep  up  to  him  unperceived.  I  did 
not  then  know  how  difficult  it  was  to  outwit  a  panther ; 
but  this  time  fortune  favored  me. 

After  waiting  about  half  an  hour,  I  thought  I  might 
make  the  attempt,  and  crept  lightly  and  cautiously  to- 
wards the  thicket;  the  dog,  well  knowing  my  object, 
crept  as  silently  after  me.  Just  as  I  gained  the  edge  of 
the  thicket,  and  was  looking  out  for  the  best  place  to  en- 
ter it  with  the  least  noise,  I  heard  a  light  rustling.  My 
heart  began  to  beat  violently,  the  bush  opened,  and  my 
eyes  encountered  the  fierce  orbs  of  the  panther.  Doubt- 
less, in  the  first  moment  of  surprise,  he  did  not  know 
exactly  what  to  do  ;  but  his  surprise  did  not  last  long : 
a  panther  has  a  bad  conscience,  and  justly  supposes  a 
foe  in  every  living  being  not  belonging  to  his  own  race ; 
and,  crouching  down  about  twenty  paces  from  me  in  the 
yellow  grass,  he  was  preparing  either  to  make  a  spring, 
or  to  hide  himself,  I  could  not  tell  which.  But  I  was 
not  idle ;  during  the  time  he  stooped,  my  arm  had  re- 
covered its  steadiness,  the  rifle  cracked,  the  animal  made 
one  spring  upwards,  and  fell  dead  to  the  earth.  Bears- 
grease  seized  him  on  the  instant,  and  seemed  to  take 
exquisite  pleasure  in  shaking  the  skin  of  his  deadliest 
foe,  and  he  cast  many  a  longing  look  behind,  when,  at 
my  command  he  followed  up  the  panther's  trail.  We 


100  HUNTING    SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

soon  came  to  the  place  where  he  had  killed  the  buck, 
and  covered  it  with  leaves ;  the  skin  had  been  so  mauled 
that  it  was  useless.,  but  I  stripped  off  the  panther's,  and 
set  out  on  my  return  to  my  camp,  deciding  to  go  back  to 
old  Slowtrap's,  and  to  commence  my  march  on  the 
Ozark  mountains  as  soon  as  possible. 

On  arriving  at  the  camp,  I  tied  up  the  skin  with  strips 
of  bark,  and  although  I  took  very  little  of  the  venison 
with  me,  I  had  a  heavy  load.  I  reached  Curly 's  in 
the  evening.  As  it  was  nearly  dark,  I  had  no  fancy 
for  crossing  the  river  at  night,  and  creeping  for  half  an 
hour  through  a  cane-brake,  with  the  chance  of  getting 
my  eyes  poked  out ;  so  I  remained  with  Curly.  The 
house  was  small,  but  it  contained  two  large  bedsteads, 
one  table,  three  chairs,  two  plates,  and  one  cup ;  a  hole 
in  the  wall  did  duty  for  the  absent  window. 

We  passed  a  very  pleasant  evening.  Curly  sang  well, 
and  gave  us  a  number  of  Irish  comic  songs,  till,  tired 
with  laughing  and  the  severe  exertions  of  the  day,  I 
rolled  myself  in  my  blanket,  and  laid  myself  by  the  fire. 
I  was  up  at  daybreak,  and  the  river  being  low,  waded 
through,  hastened  to  Slowtrap's,  and  spread  out  my 
skin.  Slowtrap  was  out  shooting  wild  fowl,  which 
had  collected  in  such  numbers  on  a  little  river,  running 
into  the  Fourche  le  Fave,  that  I  never  saw  anything 
like  it ;  they  positively  covered  the  water,  and  a  good 
double-barrelled  gun  might  have  done  immense  havoc, 
particularly  as  the  steep  banks  favored  the  approach  to 
within  thirty  yards  of  the  ducks. 

Supposing  the  old  fellow  not  to  be  far  off,  I  took  my 
rifle,  and  lounged  down  to  the  brink,  of  the  river ;  not 


HUNTING   BEARS  AND   PANTHERS.  103 

with  any  intention  of  shooting,  as  my  rifle  had  too  large 
a  bore ;  but  I  came  upon  a  string  of  ducks,  not  more 
than  fifteen  yards  off.  This  was  too  enticing  ;  I  raised 
the  gun,  and  off  went  the  golden  green  head  of  the 
largest  of  them.  I  reloaded,  fished  out  my  bird,  and 
was  turning  up  the  stream,  when  I  heard  Slowtrap's  gun 
above  a  mile  off,  and  as  I  had  no  intention  of  walking 
so  far,  I  took  my  duck  by  the  neck,  and  walked  home. 
Where  wad  my  home?  Wherever  I  happened  to  be — • 
whore  I  had  erected  a  bark  shed,  or  spread  my  blanket, 
or  lighted  a  fire,  or  where  the  hospitable  roof  of  a  farmer 
or  backwoodsman  received  me ;  though  the  next  morning 
mi<jht  find  me  with  all  my  goods  on  my  back — no  heavy 
burden — seeking  new  shooting  ground,  and  new  home. 
What  then  ? — I  went  home  and  commenced  mending  my 
old  moccasins  once  more,  though  they  were  almost  worn 
out ;  and  as  I  had  some  tanned  deer-skin,  I  cut  out  a 
ju-w  pair,  for  the  others  would  have  never  survived  a 
long  march. 


•  HUNTING  BEARS  AND  PANTHERS. 

MKAXTIME  it  grew  dusk,  continues  Gerstaecker,  and 
Slowtrap  returned  with  seven  ducks,  three  of  which  had 
had  their  heads  shot  off.  Meat  was  now  plentiful. 
After  S.  had  made  himself  comfortable,  that  is  to  saj, 
had  taken  off  his  hat,  laid  aside  his  rifle  and  pouch, 
pulled  off  his  wet  shoes  and  stockings,  taken  unto  him- 


104  HUNTING   SPORTS    OF  THE   WEST. 

self  a  slice  of  cold  turkey,  with  its  appropriate  maize 
bread  and  boiled  pumpkin,  seated  himself  with  his  feet 
to  the  fire,  cut  off  a  piece  of  his  chair  to  make  a  tooth- 
pick, and  begun  complacently  to  pick  his  teeth,  a  sure 
sign  that  he  felt  comfortable,  all  which  operations  took 
about  three  quarters  of  an  hour,  he  asked,  "  Well,  what's 
the  news  ?"  As  the  answer  was  not  encouraging,  ano- 
ther long  pause  ensued.  When  it  was  quite  dark,  and  a 
good  fire  was  burning,  his  wife  brought  us  some  bread  and 
milk,  of  which  he  partook  largely,  and  then  began  to 
thaw,  and  speak  of  his  exploits  ;  he  had  fired  eleven  times, 
and  his  piece  had  missed  fire  twenty-seven  times,  a  habit 
the  old  flint  gun  had ;  but  he  had  nevertheless  brought 
home  seven  ducks,  and  he  had  seen  afresh  panther  trail, 
the  panther  had  probably  seen  him  from  a  tree,  and 
jumped  down  and  escaped. 

He  took  particular  notice  of  my  panther  skin,  and 
thought  that  there  must  be  a  number  of  them  about,  but 
that  formerly  there  were  more  than  twice  as  many  in 
Kentucky.  "Ah,  at  that  time,"  said  he,  a  man  might 
shoot  five  or  six  deer  before  breakfast,  and  once  I  had 
got  up  at  daylight,  and  shot  two  noble  bucks,  and 
stalked  a  third  for  half  a  mile,  when  he  got  scent  of  me 
and  escaped.  I  was  tired  with  my  exertions,  ar;d  had 
scarcely  any  sleep  all  night,  for  a  rascally  panther  had  been 
howling  near  me,  and  several  times  came  so  close  to  the 
fire  that  I  could  make  out  his  form,  though  he  never 
gave  me  time  to  put  a  ball  into  him  with  certainty.  So 
I  threw  myself  under  a  tree,  to  rest  a  little,  meaning 
then  to  continue  my  sport ;  but  somehow  my  eyes  closed 
unconsciously,  and  I  can't  say  how  long  I  may  have 


SURPRISED   BY  A   PANTHER.  105 

lain  there,  when,  still  half  asleep,  I  heard  a  strong  rustl- 
ing among  the  dry  leaves  which  surrounded  me,  and  felt 
that  they  were  being  thrown  over  me,  so  that  I  was  quite 
covered  in  a  few  minutes.  Surprise  at  first,  and  then 
an  instinct  of  danger,  which  I  did  not  quite  understand, 
kept  me  motionless,  awaiting  the  result :  before  I  had 
formed  any  resolution,  I  heard  something  moving  stealth- 
ily away,  and  cautiously  raising  my  head,  saw  a  panther 
disappear  in  the  thicket.  My  first  act  was  to  jump  up 
and  look  to  my  priming,  and  as  I  saw  nothing  more  of  the 
beast,  though  I  was  sure  that  it  would  return,  I  resolved 
to  oppose  cunning  to  cunning.  A  piece  of  a  broken 
bough  lay  near ;  I  dragged  it  to  the  spot,  and  covered  it 
carefully  with  dried  leaves,  then  slinging  my  rifle  on  my 
back,  I  mounted  a  neighboring  oak,  to  await  in  patience, 
but  with  a  beating  heart,  the  conclusion  of  the  adven- 
ture, as  the  panther  might  return  at  any  moment.  I 
may  have  sat  for  rather  more  than  half  an  hour,  my 
eyes  steadfastly  fixed  on  the  place  where  the  panther 
had  vanished,  when  the  bough  began  to  move,  and  the 
female  panther  (for  a  female  it  turned  out  to  be)  reap- 
peared with  two  cubs,  intending,  no  doubt,  that  I  should 
serve  as  supper  for  the  family.  This  time  she  had  reck- 
oned without  her  host.  I  remained  silent  and  motion- 
less in  the  tree,  watching  every  movement  and  keeping 
the  rifle  in  readiness.  She  crept  stealthily  to  within 
fifteen  paces  of  the  spot  where  she  had  left  me  covered 
up  with  leaves,  and  crouched  down  with  her  green  eyes 
glaring  upon  the  log ;  the  next  instant  she  made  a  spring, 
struck  the  claws  of  both  her  fore-feet  into  it,  and  buried 
her  sharp  fangs  deep  into  the  rotten  wood.  When  she 


106  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

found  herself  deceived,  she  remained  for  a  moment  or 
two  in  the  same  attitude,  quite  confounded.  I  did  not 
leave  her  much  time  for  consideration ;  my  ball  crashed 
through  her  brain,  and  she  fell  dead  on  her  supposed 
prey  without  a  moan.  I  killed  the  two  young  ones  easily 
enough." 

He  had  hardly  finished  the  anecdote,  when  the  dogs 
began  to  bark,  and,  by-and-by,  we  jumped  up  to  see 
what  was  the  matter.  It  was  a  neighbor  named  Coil- 
mar,  from  the  other  side  of  the  hill.  I  took  the  saddle 
off  his  horse,  and  laid  it  under  one  of  the  beds,  tied  up 
the  horse  to  a  young  tree,  shoved  a  roughly-hewn  trough 
before  him,  which  I  filled  with  maize,  and  his  eager 
munching  proved  how  well  he  was  satisfied  with  all  the 
proceedings.  Collmar  had  come  over  the  hill  to  invite 
us  to  assist  in  erecting  a  new  house.  He  had  collected 
all  the  logs  on  the  spot,  and  now,  according  to  American 
custom,' was  calling  on  his  neighbors  to  come  and  assist 
in  raising  them.  S.  was  his  nearest  neighbor  but  one, 
and  lived  nine  miles  distant ;  -the  next  dwelt  eight  miles 
further. 

I  promised  to  come  at  all  events,  but  it  was  against 
Slowtrap's  habit  to  promise  anything  two  days  in  ad- 
vance. Besides,  his  wife  and  his  youngest  child  were 
both  unwell.  We  shortened  the  evening  with  stories  and 
anecdotes.  Collmar  was  off  with  the  dawn,  to  prepare 
for  the  following  day.  I  took  my  rifle  and  lounged  into 
the  forest  with  Bearsgrease,  to  look  for  a  turkey.  He 
drove  a  gang  into  the  trees,  at  less  than  half  a  mile 
from  the  house ;  but  the  wood  was  so  thick  and  over- 
grown, that  before  I  could  come  up  to  see  which  trees 


A   NEW   HUNTING  EXCURSION.  107 

they  had  perched  in,  they  had  so  hidden  amongst  the 
branches  that  there  was  not  a  trace  of  them  to  be  seen. 
I  therefore  whistled  for  my  dog,  and  hid  behind  a  tree, 
to  await  the  time  when  they  would  think  themselves 
safe,  and  begin  to  call.  I  had  not  long  to  wait ;  ere  long 
they  began  to  cry,  and  about  a  hundred  yards  in  front 
of  me,  a  large  cock  raised  himself  on  a  branch,  where 
he  had  nestled  without  my  perceiving  him.  Without 
trying  to  get  nearer,  I  took  aim  at  once,  and  hit  the  tur- 
key, which  fell  flapping  from  the  tree ;  but  the  bushes 
were  so  thick  that  I  should  have  last  him,  had  not 
Bearsgrease  dashed  in  with  the  greatest  intrepidity,  in 
spite  of  thorns  and  creepers.  The  turkey,  whose  fall 
had  been  broken  by  the  wild  vines,  had  no  sooner 
touched  the  ground,  than  he  made  a  quick  rim  for  a 
cane-break,  and  disappeared,  with  Bearsgrease  bounding 
and  barking  on  his  trail.  On  forcing  my  way  through 
the  canes,  I  witnessed  an  interesting  struggle  between 
the  two.  The  dog  was  still  young,  and  the  turkey  a 
fellow  of  twenty  or  twenty-two  pounds,  and  Bearsgrease, 
knowing  that  he  must  not  injure  him,  tried  to  hold  him 
with  his  fore  paws,  whilst  the  turkey,  which  was  only 
wounded  in  the  left  wing,  constantly  succeeded  in  es- 
caping, and  running  a  yard  or  two  before  the  dog  could 
pin  him  again.  After  watching  them  for  some  time,  I 
put  an  end  to  the  struggle  by  cutting  off  the  turkey's 
head  with  my  knife,  and  carried  him  home.  I  then  sad- 
dled Slowtrap's  old  pony,  and  set  off  over  the  mountain, 
to  gain  Collmar's  house  before  night,  leaving  Bears- 
grease  behind  me. 

The  hills  and  rivers  south  of  the  Arkansas,  almost  all 


108  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE  WEST. 

run  like  that  river,  from  west  to  east,  and  the  hills  have 
a  peculiar  formation.  The  middle  row,  or  backbone 
ridge  is  the  highest,  and  generally  on  either  side  are 
two  or  three  lower  ranges  of  hills,  running  parallel  to 
the  main  range,  and  sloping  more  and  more  towards  the 
plain.  All  the  smaller  rivers  which  run  into  the  Arkan- 
sas from  this  side,  have  such  hills  between  them.  I  rode 
slowly  up  and  down  these  hills  looking  out  for  game.  I 
had  left  my  hunting-shirt  behind,  and  a  sharp  north 
wind  began  to  chill  me  a  little ;  but  I  did  not  like  cover- 
ing myself  with  the  blanket  which  lay  across  my  saddle. 
Suddenly  I  saw  a  fox  watching  me,  from  the  side  of  a 
hill  beyond  a  little  brook.  I  raised  myself  slowly  in  the 
saddle,  and  fired  ;  but  my  hand  shook  so  with  the  cold 
that  I  missed  him.  After  the  report,  when  the  smoke 
cleared  away,  the  fox  had  disappeared ;  I  jumped  off  and 
ran  to  the  place  where  he  had  been  standing,  to  see  if  I 
could  find  traces  of  the  ball,  finding  none,  I  reloaded, 
and  returned  to  the  horse,  which  was  quietly  grazing. 
With  my  left  foot  in  the  stirrup,  and  in  the  act  of  throw- 
ing my  right  leg  over  the  saddle,  what  was  my  astonish- 
ment to  see  the  fox  in  the  same  place  as  before,  looking 
as  unconcerned  as  if  nothing  had  happened  !  I  had  to 
turn  my  horse  before  I  could  take  aim,  and  the  fox 
turned  at  the  same  time.  A  loud  whistle  made  him  stop 
for  a  moment  to  see  what  it  was ;  he  was  off  again  be- 
fore I  could  fire,  but  not  quick  enough  to  escape  my 
ball.  The  jump  he  gave  showed  he  was  hit ;  so,  throw- 
ing myself  off  the  horse,  I  hastened  after  him.  When 
he  heard  the  bushes  rustling,  he  stood  still  to  listen. 
This  allowed  me  to  approach  him :  the  shot  had  broken 


THE  FOX — "STOLE  AWAY."  109 

his  left  hind  leg ;  and  throwing  away  everything  that 
hindered  me  in  running,  I  darted  after  him.  Dragging 
his  wounded  leg,  he  limped  along  the  side  of  the  hill ; 
but,  finding  that  I  gained  on  him,  he  turned  towards  the 
summit.  I  had  run  for  a  good  half  mile,  and  too  much 
out  of  breath  to  breast  the  hill,  I  soon  lost  sight  of 
him.  Heated  and  tired,  I  returned  to  the  horse,  pick- 
ing up  my  rifle,  powder-horn,  pouch,  and  cap,  by  the 
way,  enveloped  myself  in  my  blanket,  and  mounted  my 
patient  steed. 

I  soon  crossed  the  highest  summit  of  the  range,  and 
running  down  by  the  side  of  a  small  stream  southwards 
from  the  hills,  in  about  an  hour  and  a  half  arrived  at  the 
place  where  Collmar's  house  was  to  be  built,  and  where 
some  of  those  who  had  arrived  before  me  were  occupied 
in  cutting  the  logs. 

The  ground  was  already  prepared  and  planks  cut ; 
other  neighbors  arrived  from  time  to  time  with  their  dogs 
and  guns,  and  the  clearing  was  filled  with  laughing,  talka- 
tive groups. 

The  horses  were  hobbled  near  some  reeds,  with  plenty 
of  maize  shaken  down  in  a  dry  place.  In  the  evening, 
we  all  assembled  at  Collmar's  hut,  or  rather  shed,  formed 
of  boards  fastened  together,  supported  by  poles,  and  con- 
taining three  roughly-hewn  bedsteads,  a  weaver's  loom, 
and  two  spinning-wheels.  It  may  have  been  about  fifty 
feet  long  and  twenty  wide,  with  the  floor  as  nature  sup- 
plied it.  Rifles  and  saddles  lay  about ;  three  pairs  of 
deer  hams  adorned  one  corner,  and  dried  pumpkins  hang- 
ing to  poles,  formed  the  sky  to  this  paradise. 

Immense  blazing  logs  were  heaped  up  in  one  blackened 


110  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

corner,  and  from  time  to  time  it  was  necessary  to  throw 
a  pail  of  water  over  the  fire  to  prevent  the  planks  from 
burning ;  and  then  clouds  of  ashes  threatened  us  with 
the  fate  of  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii. 

All  sorts  of  cooking  utensils  were  crowded  round  the 
fire — a  turkey  was  stuck  upon  a  stick  to  roast  by  the  side 
of  an  opossum,  dangling  on  a  string  from  the  roof.  Not- 
withstanding my  long  abode  amongst  people  who  were 
passionately  fond  of  this  article  of  food,  I  could  never 
bring  myself  to  eat  a  thing  with  a  rat's  head  and  tail,  and 
hand-like  claws.  The  prospect  of  a  good  supper  was  a 
delight  to  my  hungry  stomach.  Meantime,  I  was  much 
diverted  by  a  bargain  about  cows  going  on  between  two  old 
backwoodsmen :  but,  before  discussing  this  subject,  it  will 
be  as  well  to  say  something  of  the  inmates  of  the  shed. 
Collmar's  wife,  a  stout,  strong-built  woman  of  about 
thirty-four,  with  two  daughters  of  fourteen  and  ten,  were 
all  that  belonged  to  the  fair  sex.  They  were  busily  em- 
ployed about  the  fire  with  long-handled  spoons,  turning 
the  meat  in  the  frying-pans,  and  basting  the  turkey  and 
opossum ;  five  smaller  figures,  with  a  tin  pot  of  milk  in 
one  hand  and  a  lump  of  maize  bread  in  the  other,  huddled 
near  the  fire,  stared  at  the  strangers  with  all  their  eyes. 
The  hostess  soon  made  room  for  the  company  by  sending 
the  children  to  bed.  But  to  return  to  the  bargainers 
about  the  cows.  Instead  of  each  praising  his  own  cow, 
they  found  so  much  fault  with  them,  that  their  own 
calves,  if  they  had  heard  it,  must  have  felt  ashamed  of 
them.  After  above  an  hour's  discussion  on  the  faults 
and  failings  of  their  horned  property,  they  observed  that 
they  could  not  part  with  them  without  giving  something 


BEAR-HUNTING   EXTRAORDINARY.  Ill 

into  the  bargain,  as  even  their  hides  were  worth  nothing. 
These  calumnies  were  put  an  end  to  by  the  announce- 
ment, "  Supper  is  ready."  Boxes,  chairs,  and  logs,  were 
placed  round  the  table  for  seats.  Turkey,  venison,  pork, 
opossum,  maize  bread,  and  the  favorite  beverage  of  the 
backwoodsman,  coffee,  disappeared  so  rapidly  that  soon 
nothing  was  left  but  the  bones  of  the  animals,  the  remem- 
brance of  the  bread,  and  the  grounds  of  the  coffee.  One 
after  another  rose  when  he  had  had  enough,  and  then  the 
women-folk,  who  had  wisely  kept  something  for  them- 
selves, took  their  places.  This  is  one  of  the  customs  of  the 
West  which  always  displeased  me.  The  hostess  seldom 
sits  down  to  table  with  the  men,  except  now  and  then  at 
tea  or  coffee.  The  other  custom,  that  of  rising  when  they 
had  had  enough,  without  regard  to  those  who  remained 
at  table,  was  not  so  bad. 

After  supper  the  company  formed  various  groups,  and 
the  conversation  turned  on  shooting,  pasture  grounds, 
the  survey  of  the  land  that  had  recently  been  accom- 
plished, and  then  on  religion.  Words  soon  ran  high ; 
for  among  the  company  were  Methodists,  Baptists,  Pres- 
byterians, and  unbelievers — but  all  disputes  were  put  an 
end  to  by  the  arrival  of  two  large  jugs  of  whiskey,  each 
containing  about  four  bottles,  which  Collmar  had  sent  his 
eldest  son,  a  lad  of  fifteen,  to  fetch  from  a  distant  store. 
The  boy  had  been  obliged  to  ride  slowly  for  fear  of  break- 
ing the  jugs. 

—The  old  bear-shooters  were  highly  amused  at  the  fol- 
lowing account  one  of  the  party  gave  of  a  bear-hunt  that 
had  occurred  in  North  Carolina,  and  which  gave  a  sad 
picture  of  the  low  state  to  which  field  sports  had 


112  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

fallen  there.  "  In  order  to  have  a  bear-hunt  several  far- 
mers met,  and  let  loose  a  tame  two-year-old  bear,  giving 
him  half  an  hour's  law,  and  then  following  with  horse  and 
hound.  The  bear  made  straight  for  some  hills,  and  in 
about  an  hour  and  a  half's  time  was  chased  into  a  tree. 
Not  wishing  to  kill  him,  no  one  had  brought  a  rifle ;  so  I 
went  to  a  house  about  half  a  mile  off,  and  borrowed  an 
axe  to  cut  down  the  tree.  The  bear  looked  with  inquisi- 
tive eyes  on  the  proceedings  below,  and  did  not  appear  to 
suspect  danger,  till  the  tree  fell  with  a  tremendous  crash ; 
men  and  dogs  threw  themselves  on  the  half-stunned  bear, 
to  secure  him  and  take  him  home ;  but  the  majority  voted 
for  another  hunt,  so  the  dogs  were  held  in  and  the  bear 
let  loose.  After  a  time,  we  all  went  after  him  again ; 
this  time  the  chase  lasted  longer,  as  the  bear  "swam  a 
river,  and  to  avoid  a  wetting  we  turned  off  to  a  bridge, 
giving  the  bear  a  great  advantage.  At  length,  when  we 
got  close  to  him,  he  took  to  an  enormous  fir-tree,  and  we 
all  assembled  under  it ;  none  of  us  knew  how  to  get  him 
down  again.  We  were  several  miles  from  any  house,  and 
had  left  the  axe  behind  us,  and  he  seemed  to  set  us  at 
defiance  in  his  lofty  position.  Nevertheless  he  did  not 
seem  quite  at  his  ease,  and  kept  looking  anxiously  first 
on  one  side,  and  then  on  the  other,  at  the  dogs  who  were 
jumping  and  barking  round  the  trunk  of  the  tree.  This 
inspired  an  old  Virginian  of  the  party  with  a  new  idea. 
There  were  several  pine  branches  lying  about ;  so,  taking 
up  one  of  the  heaviest  and  longest,  he  commenced  strik- 
ing the  tree  with  all  his  force.  At  the  first  blow,  the 
bear  gave  a  start  as  if  electrified,  and  at  the  second  or 
third  he  darted  down  like  lightning  among  the  dogs,  when 


ADVENTURE  WITH  A  WILD-CAT.  113 

he  was  soon  secured  and  taken  home.  He  was  once  more 
allowed  to  run  about  for  a  couple  of  years,  when  he  grew 
very  fat,  and  in  good  condition  for  killing,  and  he  was 
slaughtered  accordingly."  When  the  story  was  ended, 
we  wrapped  ourselves  in  our  blankets,  and  slept  soundly, 
though  occasionally  disturbed  by  some  thirsty  souls  who 
rose  to  get  a  drink.  It  was  lucky  for  those  who  were 
lying  in  the  outer  rows  that  most  of  the  water  seekers 
wore  moccasins. 

We  were  up  at  daybreak,  and  prepared  to  build  the 
house  by  first  making  a  large  fire  to  warm  our  hands  and 
feet.  A  man  with  an  axe  stood  in  each  corner  of  the 
rising  house,  to  cut  the  mortices  and  fit  them  into  each 
other,  while  the  rest  of  the  party  raised  the  logs ;  no 
trifling  labor,  as  the  house  was  to  have  two  stories.  By 
the  evening,  it  was  all  up  except  the  roof,  when  rain 
began  to  fall,  and  the  logs  became  too  slippery  to  admit 
of  our  standing  on  them ;  so  the  completion  was  left  till 
dry  weather. 

We  remained  the  night  at  Collmar's,  and  departed 
next  day  on  our  various  ways,  after  a  very  frugal  break- 
fast, for  we  had  devoured  all  his  store. 

It  was  cold  and  foggy,  and  I  was  glad  to  get  to 
Hogarth's,  where  I  passed  the  night,  returning  next  day 
to  Slowtrap's.  On  relating  the  extraordinary  behavior 
of  the  fox,  he  gave  one  of  his  smiles,  and  told  many  droll 
stories  of  the  tricks  of  foxes,  and  one  of  a  wild-cat,  which 
attacked  a  man  in  the  marshes  of  the  Cash.  The  man 
had  gone  out  early  in  the  morning  to  shoot  a  turkey,  and 
hearing  a  cock  gobbling  away  with  all  his  might,  he 

placed  himself  behind  a  fallen  tree,  and  began  to  use  his 

8 


114  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

call,  when  a  wild-cat,  probably  deceived  by  the  sound, 
sprang  upon  him  like  a  fury,  and  attempted  to  bite 
through  the  veins  of  his  neck.  He  found  it  impossible 
to  pull  the  beast  off,  and  was  obliged  to  kill  it  behind  his 
back  with  his  scalping-knife ;  he  was  confined  to  his  bed 
for  several  weeks,  before  he  recovered  from  the  ugly 
wounds  caused  by  the  cat's  teeth  and  claws. 

The  weather  cleared  up  next  morning,  and  as  old 
Slowtrap  was  still  unprepared  for  his  journey,  I  resolved 
to  cross  the  river  to  shoot,  and  went  to  Curly 's  on  the 
same  day.  As  the  deer  kept  themselves  close  hid  in  the 
daytime,  we  determined  to  have  a  shot  in  the  night.  An 
iron  pan  was  soon  prepared,  and  with  my  old  German 
game-bag,  which  had  accompanied  me  in  all  my  wander- 
ings, full  of  kindlers,  our  rolled-up  blankets  on  our 
shoulders,  we  set  off  as  soon  as  it  was  dark.  A  sharp 
wind  had  made  the  leaves  so  dry  in  the  course  of  a  few 
hours,  that  our  footsteps  might  be  heard  at  three  hun- 
dred yards  off;  consequently  we  saw  no  deer,  and  after 
carrying  the  pan  to  and  fro  for  about  three  hours,  we 
got  tired  of  such  useless  trouble.  On  arriving  at  a  small 
stream,  we  made  a  good  fire,  and  after  a  frugal  supper 
had  set  our  chins  for  a  very  short  time  in  motion,  we 
rolled  ourselves  in  our  blankets,  and  lay  down  each  with 
his  dog  pressed  close  to  his  side. 

We  rose  at  daybreak,  and  following  different  routes, 
appointed  a  rendezvous  at  Curly's,  as  we  did  not  mean 
to  make  a  long  affair  of  it.  Bad  luck  seemed  to  stick 
to  us,  for  though  we  found  plenty  of  trails,  we  saw  no 
game.  At  length  Bearsgrease  found  a  fresh  trail,  aiic! 
followed  it  up,  often  looking  round  to  see  if  I  was  near 


DEER-STALKING   BY   NIGHT.  117 

him  ;  so  I  kept  as  close  as  possible.  Suddenly  lie  stood 
still,  and  pointed,  and  an  old  buck  got  up  about  fifty 
yards  from  us,  and  made  a  half  circle  round  us.  When 
I  gave  a  hail,  he  stood  still  as  if  to  ask  what  I  wanted. 
It  happened  that  I  was  to  windward  of  him;  and  snuff- 
ing the  air  he  gave  a  bound,  which  caused  my  ball  to 
strike  too  far  backwards  under  his  spine,  bringing  him 
on  his  haunches.  Bearsgrease  had  been  observing  it  all 
with  remarkable  patience,  only  turning  his  head  from 
one  to  the  other ;  but  now  giving  vent  to  his  eagerness, 
he  darted  on  the  deer,  seized  him  by  the  jaw,  and  spring- 
ing over  his  back,  brought  him  to  the  ground.  I  had 
now  a  good  opportunity  of  cutting  the  deer's  throat,  but 
I  wished  to  give  the  dog  a  little  practice,  and  I  watched 
the  struggle  with  the  greatest  interest.  The  buck  was 
one  of  twelve  branches,  and  had  the  full  use  of  the  fore- 
part of  his  body.  He  strove  to  hit  the  dog  with  his 
sharp  hoof,  and  to  run  his  horns  into  him,  but  the  dog 
cleverly  eluded  all  his  attempts,  and  at  last  seizing  him 
by  the  throat,  held  him  fast,  while  I  ended  his  torments 
with  my  knife. 

As  Slowtrap  had  assured  me  that  he  would  be  ready 
to  make  the  long  expected  journey,  in  a  few  days,  I 
would  not  delay.  I  skinned  the  deer,  packed  the  two 
haunches  in  the  skin,  fed  the  dog,  and  trudged  away  hea- 
vily laden,  up  and  down  hill  to  Curly 's  house. 


118  HUNTING   SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 


A  KENTUCKY'S  ACCOUNT  OF  A  PANTHER  FIGHT, 

I  NEVER  was  down-hearted  but  once  in  my  life,  and 
that  was  on  seeing  the  death  of  a  faithful  friend,  who 
lost  his  life  in  trying  to  save  mine.  The  fact  is,  I  was 
one  day  making  tracks  homeward,  after  a  long  tramp 
through  one  of  our  forests — my  rifle  carelessly  resting 
on  my  shoulder* — when  my  favorite  dog,  Sport,  who 
was  trotting  quietly  ahead  of  me,  suddenly  stopped 
stock  still,  gazed  into  a  big  oak  tree,  bristled  up  his 
back,  and  fetched  a  loud  growl.  I  looked  up  and  saw, 
upon  a  quivering  limb,  a  half-grown  panther,  crouching 
down  close,  and  in  the  very  act  of  springing  upon  him. 
With  a  motion  quicker  than  chain-lightning,  I  levelled 
my  rifle,  blazed  away,  and  shot  him  clean  through  and 
through  the  heart.  The  varmint,  with  teeth  all  set  and 
claws  spread,  pitched  sprawling  head  foremost  to  the 
ground,  as  dead  as  Jufyus  Caesar !  That  was  all  fair 
enough  ;  but  mark  !  afore  I  had  hardly  dropped  my  rifle, 
I  found  myself  thrown  down  flat  on  my  profile,  by  the 
old  she  panther,  who,  that  minute,  sprung  from  an  oppo- 
site tree,  and  lit  upon  my  shoulders,  heavier  than  all 
creation !  I  feel  the  print  of  her  devilish  teeth  and 
nails  there  now !  My  dog  grew  mighty  loving ;  he 
jumped  a-top  and  seized  her  by  the  neck ;  so  we  all 
rolled  and  clawed,  and  a  pretty  considerable  tight  scratch 
we  had  of  it.  I  began  to  think  my  right  arm  was  about 
chawed  up ;  when  the  varmint,  finding  the  dog's  teeth 
rayther  hurt  her  feelings,  let  me  go  altogether,  and 


ANGLING   FOR   BASS.  119 

clenched  him.  Seeing  at  once  that  the  dog  was  under- 
most, and  there  was  no  two  ways  ahout  a  chance  of 
choking  off,  or  let  up  about  her,  I  just  out  jack-knife, 
and  with  one  slash,  prehaps  I  didn't  cut  the  panther's 
throat  deep  enough  for  her  to  breathe  the  rest  of  her 
life  without  nostrils  !  I  did  feel  mighty  savagerous,  and 
big  as  she  was,  I  laid  hold  of  her  hide  by  the  back,  with 
an  alligator  grip,  and  slung  her  against  the  nearest  tree 
hard  enough  to  make  every  bone  in  her  flash  fire. 
"There,"  says  I,  "you  infernal  varmint,  root  and 
branch,  you  are  what  I  call  used  up." 

But  I  turned  around  to  look  for  my  dog,  and — and — 
tears  gushed  smack  into  my  eyes,  as  I  see  the  poor  affec- 
tionate cretur,  all  of  a  gore  of  blood,  half  raised  on  his 
fore-legs,  trying  to  drag  his  mangled  body  towards  me ; 
down  he  dropped.  I  ran  up  to  him,  whistled  loud,  and 
gave  him  a  friendly  shake  of  the  paws — (for  I  loved  my 
dog  !)  But  he  was  too  far  gone ;  he  had  just  strength 
enough  to  wag  his  tail  feebly,  fixed  his  closing  eyes  upon 
me  wishfully,  then  gave  a  gasp  or  two,  and — all  was 
over. — James  H.  Hackett. 


ANGLING  FOR  BASS.* 

THE  best,  and  one  of  the  most  universal  fish  of  the 
Mississippi,  is  the  black  bass.  They  vary  from  one  to 
seven  pounds  in  weight,  are  taken  with  a  fly,  the  min 

*  From  Lanman'a  "Adventures  in  the  Wilda  of  the  United  States." 


120  HUNTING  SPOKTS  OP  THE  WEST. 

now  and  the  frog,  and  in  my  opinion,  as  a  game  fish,  are 
only  second  to  the  trout.  They  are  found  in  great  abun- 
dance at  all  the  rapids  in  the  river,  but  afforded  me  the 
finest  sport  at  the  Falls  of  Saint  Anthony.  When  I  was 
there  the  water  was  uncommonly  low,  so  that  pool  fishing 
was  in  its  prime,  and  I  enjoyed  it  to  perfection.  I  cap- 
tured no  less  than  thirty-five  superb  bass  in  the  space  of 
two  hours,  and  that  too,  without  once  moving  the  anchor 
of  my  boat.  I  took  them  with  a  hand-line,  baiting  with 
a  minnow,  and  the  majority  of  them  weighed  over  two 
pounds  apiece. 

The  only  respectable  trout  of  the  region  of  the  Missis- 
sippi extends  from  Prairie  du  Chien  to  Lake  St.  Croix. 
An  expert  angler  may  here  capture  an  occasional  pounder, 
out  of  the  river  itself ;  but  the  rarest  of  sport  is  afforded 
by  all  the  neighboring  brooks,  which  run  through  a  hilly 
country,  and  are  rapid,  rocky,  and  clear.  The  trout  of 
these  streams  average  about  eight  ounces  in  weight.  As 
I  sailed  up  the  Alpine  portion  of  the  river  in  a  steam- 
boat, my  opportunities  for  wetting  the  line  were  not  fre- 
quent or  particularly  successful,  as  the  following  illustra- 
tion will  testify. 

I  had  just  arisen  from  the  breakfast  table,  when  the 
pilot  of  the  boat  informed  me  that  he  was  about  to  be  de- 
layed for  two  hours,  and  that  there  was  a  fine  trout 
stream  a  little  farther  on,  which  I  might  investigate.  I 
immediately  hailed  a  couple  of  my  traveling  companions, 
and  with  our  rods  in  prime  order,  we  all  started  for  the 
unknown  stream.  Owing  to  a  huge  rock  that  lay  on  the 
margin  of  the  river,  we  were  compelled  to  make  an  ex- 
tensive circuit  over  a  number  of  briar-covered  hills,  and 


ANGLING  FOR   BASS.' 


ANGLING  FOR   BASS.  123 

we  found  the  bed  of  our  pilot's  trout  brook  without  a 
particle  of  water.  What  aggravated  our  condition  was 
the  intense  heat  of  the  sun.  In  about  an  hour,  however, 
we  succeeded  in  reaching  the  Mississippi  once  more,  and 
there,  comfortably  seated  in  the  shadow  of  %a  bluff,  we 
threw  out  our  lines  and  awaited  the  arrival  of  the  boat. 
"We  happened  to  be  in  the  vicinity  of  a  deep  hole,  out  of 
which  we  brought  five  black  bass,  weighing  three  or  four 
pounds  apiece.  We  did  not  capture  a  single  trout,  but 
the  sight  of  one  immense  fellow  that  I  lost,  agitated  my 
,  nerves.  Something  very  heavy  had  seized  my  hook,  and 
after  playing  it  for  some  minutes  I  was  about  to  land  it, 
when  I  saw  that  it  was  a  trout,  (it  must  have  weighed 
some  three  pounds,)  but  making  a  sudden  leap,  it  snap- 
ped my  line,  and  was,  like  a  great  many  objects  in  this 
world,  entirely  out  of  my  reach ;  and  then  I  was  the  vic- 
tim of  a  loud  and  long  laugh.  The  only  thing  that  kept 
me  from  falling  into  a  settled  melancholy  was  the  inci- 
dent which  immediately  followed.  When  the  boat  came 
along,  a  Frenchman  who  was  a  passenger,  and  happened 
to  have  a  canoe  floating  at  the  stern,  volunteered  his  ser- 
vices to  take  us  on  board  the  steamer.  Knowing  that 
my  friends  had  never  been  in  a  canoe  before,  I  would  not 
embark  with  them,  and  in  about  two  minutes  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  them  capsized,  and  after  they  had  be- 
come completely  soaked,  of  seeing  them  rescued  from  all 
danger  minus  the  three  fine  bass  which  they  had  taken. 
This  feat  was  performed  in  the  presence  of  quite  a  num- 
ber of  ladies,  and  to  the  tune  of  a  hearty  peal  of  laughter. 


124  HUNTING   SPOKTS   OF  THE  WEST. 


HUNTING   ON  THE  OZARK  MOUNTAINS. 

IT  was  Christmas  eve,  and  growing  dark,  says  Mr. 
Gerstsecker.*  My  heart  sunk  as  I  remembered  former 
joys  of  this  season,  and  thought  of  my  present  loneli- 
ness. Strange !  that  recollections  should  be  so  sweet 
and  yet  so  bitter. 

In  good  time  we  arrived  at  old  Conwell's,  Slowtrap's 
father-in-law.  He  lived  in  a  block-house,  surrounded 
by  mountains  covered  with  trees,  close  to  the  bank  of  the 
White  river,  which  was  narrow  enough  to  be  bridged  by 
a  tree.  The  family  were  assembled  round  the  fire;  Con- 
well  himself  was  absent.  A  matron  of  pleasing  appear- 
ance rose  from  her  seat  on  the  entrance  of  her  son-in- 
law,  and  cordially  shook  his  hand,  while  two  fine  boys 
of  eleven  and  eight  jumped  up  to  welcome  him  ;  another 
person  in  the  room,  a  young  graceful  girl,  who  at  first 
kept  modestly  in  the  background,  then  came  forward  to 
greet  her  brother-in-law,  who  addressed  her  as  Sophy ; 
neither  was  the  stranger  overlooked,  but  received  a  hear- 
ty welcome  from  all.  I,  who,  a  few  minutes  before,  had 
felt  so  deserted  and  miserable,  now  experienced  a  silent 
joy,  as  I  looked  upon  the  amiable,  honorable  counte- 
nance of  the  mother,  the  mild  expression  of  the  daugh- 
ter, and  the  open,  happy  faces  of  the  two  boys.  It  was 
as  if  I  had  found  new  relations,  and  was  once  again  at 
home.  Never  in  my  life  had  I  felt,  from  the  first  mo- 
ment, so  completely  domesticated  as  with  these  people. 

*  Wild  Sports  in  the  Far  West. 


CONWELL  AND  HIS  FAMILY.  ,          125 

In  about  half  an  hour  old  Conwell  came  in :  if  ever 
uprightness  was  stamped  upon  any  countenance,  it  was 
upon  his  ;  his  hair  was  white  as  snow,  but  his  step  was 
as  springy  as  he  moved  about  in  his  hunting-shirt,  leg- 
gins,  moccasins,  and  bare  neck,  as  if  he  had  seen  but 
twenty  years.  After  we  had  been  seated'  about  an  hour, 
it  seemed  as  if  I  had  known  him  from  childhood,  and  the 
evening  flew  past  with  incredible  swiftness. 

The  cold  was  very  sharp  on  Christmas-day,  and  we 
were  delighting  in  a  glorious  fire,  when  John,  the  young- 
est boy,  ran  in,  and  said  there  was  a  large  gang  of  tur- 
keys in  the  corn.  I  seized  my  rifle,  called  Bearsgrease, 
and  was  soon  in  the  field.  No  sooner  had  the  dog  found 
the  scent,  than  he  was  amongst  them,  and  they  flew  to 
the  neighboring  trees.  I  knocked  over  one,  loaded,  and 
tried  for  another,  leaving  Bearsgrease  to  watch  the  prize, 
as  several  pigs  were  near  us.  Not  being  able  to  get 
another  shot,  I  returned  to  the  dog,  and  found  him  with 
his  paws  full  of  business.  Another  larger  dog  had  come 
to  have  a  smell  at  the  turkey ;  Bearsgrease,  mistaking 
his  intentions  and  my  instructions,  attacked  the  stranger, 
threw  him  over,  and  held  him  fast,  with  the  fiercest  coun- 
tenance in  the  world ;  but  when  he  saw  me  coming  he 
began  to  wag  his  tail,  being  thus,  like  Janus,  severe  in 
front  and  amicable  behind.  I  released  the  stranger  from 
his  disagreeable  position,  and  patted  and  soothed  Bears- 
grease  to  express  my  approbation  and  satisfaction  at  his 
good  behavior ;  but  he  continued  to  give  an  occasional 
growl  and  scowl  at  the  other  dog. 

I  amused  myself  for  a  couple  of  days  with  turkey 
shooting,  leaving  Slowtrap  time  to  arrange  his  affairs, 


126  ,        HUNTING   SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

when  he  informed  me  that  he  had  concluded  his  business 
quicker  than  he  had  expected,  and  now  meant  to  return 
home.  This  was  disagreeable  to  me  for  two  reasons — 
first,  because  he  was  a  very  pleasant  companion  ;  and, 
secondly,  because  he  was  so  well  acquainted  with  the 
mountains.  However,  there  was  no  persuading  him  to 
remain,  and  he  fixed  on  the  following  morning  for  his 
departure. 

InN  the  afternoon,  as  the  sun  was  bright  and  warm, 
we  formed  a  merry  party  in  front  of  the  house ;  but  S., 
who  never  could  bear  lying  or  sitting  on  the  cold  ground, 
sat  himself  on  the  fence,  which  was  about  five  feet  high, 
and  told  us  some  of  his  humorous  stories  with  his  usual 
gravity.  Meantime,  several  cows  had  assembled  on  the 
other  side  of  the  fence.  It  has  already  been  said  that 
S.  wore  a  shabby  old  coat,  whereof  the  tails  hung  low 
outside  the  fence.  In  the  morning  he  had  been  walking 
about  the  hills,  and  had  been  very  hot ;  and  his  pocket-, 
handkerchief,  moist  with  perspiration,  was  in  one  of  his 
pockets.  It  is  well  known  that  cows  are  fond  of  salt 
and  saline  substances,  and  they  had  probably  divined 
that  something  of  the  sort  was  in  one  of  those  pockets. 
One,  rather  bolder  than  the  rest,  had  quietly  approached, 
taken  the  flap  in  her  mouth,  and  was  contentedly  chew- 
ing it.  I  had  observed  the  whole  proceeding  with  great 
amusement ;  but  fearing  that  his  coat  was  in  danger  of 
being  reduced  to  a  state  of  pulp,  I  called  out  to  him  to 
look  behind.  He  looked  round,  beheld  the  cow  chew- 
ing his  coat-tails  with  the  greatest  placidity,  and  raised 
one  of  his  long  arms  to  drive  her  away.  The  cow, 
frightened  at  the  long  arm,  made  a  retreat ;  but  unluck- 


SLOWTRAP'S   ADVENTURE  T7ITH   THE   COW.        127 

ily  one  of  the  buttons  caught  between  her  teeth,  and  she 
gave  a  sudden  wrench  to  poor  Slowtrap,  who  was  nicely 
balanced  at  the  top  of  the  fence ;  in  a  moment  his  legs 
rose  in  the  air,  like  the  two  chimneys  of  a  steamer,  and 
then  his  body  tumbled  to  the  ground.  What  happened 
afterwards,  no  one  could  tell,  as  we  all  followed  his  ex- 
ample, in  a  convulsion  of  laughter. 

On  the  28th  December  my  old  companion  mounted 
his  steed,  and  shaking  hands  with  his  relations  and  me, 
was  soon  out  of  sight  in  the  forest.  I  prepared  for  the  - 
mountains,  and  Conwell  said  he  would  willingly  go  with 
me,  but  that  he  had  business  for  some  days ;  I  answered, 
that  I  would  go  first,  not  to  be  a  burden  to  him,  at  which 
he  was  much  vexed,  and  requested  me  not  to  go  with- 
out him,  concluding  his  kind  invitation  to  remain  in 
his  house,  by  saying  that  I  was  "as  welcome  as  the 
flowers  in  May."  I  could  not  withstand  this,  and  re- 
mained with  much  pleasure.  He  rode  away  the  same 
day,  and  returned  on  the  following  evening.  In  the 
afternoon  it  carne  on  to  snow,  and  continued  till  late  at 
night,  so  that  we  expected  glorious  weather  for  shooting ; 
but  our  joy  did  not  last  long,  for  it  soon  became  warm 
again.  Nevertheless  we  got  every  thing  in  readiness, 
mended  moccasins,  cast  balls,  sharpened  knives,  and,  on 
the  30th,  we  proceeded  to  the  Pilot  rock,  at  the  source 
of  the  Hurricane.  After  crossing  the  Boston  divide,  we 
stopped  on  the  slope,  where  we  found  a  spring  of  deli- 
cious water,  and  "struck  camp."  The  night  was  clear 
and  cold,  but  the  heat  of  the  day  had  spoiled  all  the 
beautiful  snow.  Stretched  before  the  fire,  we  rested  oui 


128  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

weary  limbs  after  the  exertions  of  the  day,  and  were  soon 
sound  asleep,  with  our  dogs  beside  us. 

As  we  were  not  yet  on  our  intended  ground,  we  rose 
early,  descended  the  mountain,  crossed  the  Hurricane, 
and  fixed  upon  a  spot  for  a  night's  camp,  where  we  left 
Conwell's  horse,  with  our  blankets  and  provisions.  Here 
we  separated  to  mount  the  hill  on  different  routes.  The 
Hurricane  is  a  mountain  stream,  taking  its  name  from  a 
hurricane  which  raged  near  its  mouth  some  time  ago, 
leaving  traces  that  are  still  visible.  It  runs  into  the 
Mulberry,  and  flows  with  it  into  the  Arkansas. 

Conwell  went  to  the  left,  I  to  the  right ;  the  hill  was 
in  places  so  steep,  that  I  was  obliged  to  lift  the  dog  up 
before  me.  At  length  I  gained  a  flat  terrace.  The 
terrace  formation  is  characteristic  of  these  mountains; 
seen  from  below  they  do  not  appear  very  high,  because 
only  the  top  of  the  next  division  is  visible  ;  but  when  one 
is  surmounted,  another  and  another  arises,  and  people 
maintain  that  when  you  come  to  the  highest  there  is  al- 
ways one  more. 

The  terrace  on  which  I  found  myself  was  about  one 
hundred  and  eighty  paces  wide.  Advancing  cautiously 
towards  the  middle,  keeping  a  sharp  look-out,  I  perceived 
a"  doe  quietly  grazing,  and  coming  towards  me.  I  whist- 
led, she  stopped,  bounded  upwards  with  the  shot,  ran 
about  fifty  paces  towards  me,  and  fell  dead.  She  was  in 
excellent  condition — I  hung  her  up,  and  went  on.  At 
the  end  of  the  terrace,  where  a  spring  dashed  down  the 
rock,  I  observed  signs  of  a  bear;  he  had  turned  over 
several  stones  to  find  worms,  and  had  bitten  off  some  of 
the  bushes  to  make  a  bed ;  seeing  nothing  more,  I  re- 


NEW  YEAR'S  EVE.  129 

turned  to  the  camp,  to  have  the  help  of  my  companion  to 
follow  up  the  trail  next  day,  taking  half  the  doe  on  my 
shoulders  as  I  went  along.  I  found  Conwell  occupied 
with  a  very  fat  turkey. 

Tired  with  all  the  climbing,  we  wrapped  ourselves  in 
our  blankets,  arid  threw  ourselves  down  for  a  nap ;  but 
the  sun  setting,  and  wind  getting  colder  and  sharper,  did 
not  allow  us  much  repose,  but  warned  us  to  make  a  fire, 
and  a  good  fire  too,  for  the  night.  Wood  was  abundant, 
and  we  had  only  to  move  a  few  steps  for  as  much  as  we 
wanted.  The  sun  had  hardly  disappeared  behind  the 
trees  on  the  western  mountains,  when  it  became  dark  in 
our  ravine ;  the  twilight  did  not  last  more  than  ten  min- 
utes. It  was  the  last  day  of  the  year.  In  my  native 
land,  many  a  happy  pair  were  forgetting  past  pains  and 
sorrows  in  the  tumult  of  the  dance  in  lighted  halls  ;  while 
I  was  stretched  under  the  starry  skies  beside  a  crackling 
fire  in  the  forest,  my  trusty  rifle  and  faithful  dog  by  my 
side.  I  had  no  mind  for  dancing  or  music ;  for  seven 
months  I  had  not  heard  from  home,  and  seemed  to  have 
got  wedged  in  among  the  mountains,  with  the  world  closed 
behind  me,  all  retreat  cut  off,  and  nothing  left  but  to  ad- 
vance :  and  yet  the  future  offered  no  inviting  picture ; 
alone,  in  the  endless  wilderness,  I  stood,  with  hair  turn- 
ing gray — a  solitary  hunter,  leaning  on  my  rifle,  separated 
from  all  I  loved. 

Old  Hawkeye  must  have .  had  many  a  sorrowful  hour. 

Meantime,  my  companion,  leaning  on  his  elbow,  was 

gazing  on  the  fire,  and  lost  in  recollections  of  the  past ; 

but  his  past  must  have  been  a  happy  one,  for  he  often 

smiled  to  himself.     He  had  lived  an  active  life,   and 

9 


130  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE  WEST. 

looked  forward  to  a  happy  old  age,  in  the  circle  of  at 
amiable  family  in  the  vicinity  of  his  married  children,  in 
the  enjoyment  of  health  and  strength.  Wherefore  should 
he  be  unhappy  ? 

I  stood  up  to  change  the  current  of  my  thoughts,  poked 
at  the  fire,  laid  the  logs  together,  which  were  burnt  through 
the  middle,  and  reposed  again  on  my  blanket.  Conwell 
told  rae  he  was  sixty-two  years  old  to-day,  31st  of  De- 
cember, 1841 ;  and  yet  he  was  so  strong  and  active  that 
I  had  to  exert  myself  to  keep  up  with  him.  He  spoke 
of  his  past  life ;  how  he  had  continually  preceded  civiliza- 
tion, first  in  Carolina,  then  in  Kentucky,  Tennessee, 
Missouri,  and  now  in  the  Ozark  mountains,  and  he  com- 
plained that  people  were  gathering  too  thick  about  him, 
and  said  he  felt  a  strong  inclination  to  make  another 
move.  He  mentioned  how  fortunate  and  happy  he  was 
in  his  family.  He  spoke  of  his  children,  and  as  I  listened 
to  him  my  troubled  thoughts  were  soothed ;  it  was  as  if 
one  of  my  own  family  was  speaking.  Thus  passed  our 
evening  till  sleep  weighed  down  our  eyelids,  and  wrapped 
in  our  blankets  past  and  future  were  forgotten. 

Next  morning,  as  the  tips  of  the  western  mountains 
were  lighted  up  with  the  first  rays  of  the  rising  sun,  we 
woke  from  our  lairs,  shook  off  the  wreaths  of  frost,  and 
joyfully  inhaled  the  fresh  morning  air ;  it  was  bitter 
cold,  the  water  in  our  tin  cups  was  all  frozen,  as  was  the 
meat ;  but  a  breakfast  fit  for  a  prince  was  soon  smoking 
before  us — juicy  venison,  fat  turkey,  good  strong  coffee, 
and  maize  bread.  Where  was  the  hotel  that  could  afford 
fare  as  good  ?  but  man  is'fated  never  to  be  satisfied — 
iny  companion  sighed  for  bear. 


A   SUMPTUOUS   BREAKFAST.  '   131 

Before  breakfast  was  quite  ready,  I  went  to  the  creek 
which  flowed  at  a  few  paces  from  our  camp,  to  have  a 
good  wash,  and  finding  a  hole  with  deep  water  as  clear 
as  crystal,  I  threw  off  my  clothes,  and  plunged  under 
the  cool  element.  It  was  a  delicious  treat,  and  I  did 
not  feel  the  cold  till  I  got  out ;  but  I  was  soon  by  the 
fire,  and  by  the  time  I  had  my  clothes  on,  I  felt  such  an 
animating  glow,  and  such  strength,  that  I  could  almost 
have  torn  an  oak  up  by  the  roots.  Old  C.  looked  on 
smiling,  but  thought  it  too  cold  to  plunge  in,  and  con- 
tented himself  with  washing  face,  breast,  hands,  and 
feet.  Thus  refreshed  we  sat  down  to  breakfast ;  turkey, 
venison,  coffee,  and  bread  disappeared  with  terrific  ra- 
pidity ;  even  Bearsgrease  appeared  surprised,  sitting 
with  his  mouth  wide  open,  though  Conwell  maintained 
that  he  held  it  open  more  conveniently  to  catch  the 
morsels  I  threw  to  him,  from  time  to  time ;  perhaps  he 
was  right. 

After  these  trifles,  half  a  turkey,  and  the  greater  part 
of  a  haunch  of  venison  had  been  safely  disposed  of  to 
the  general  satisfaction,  we  set  off  to  look  for  the  bear, 
tokens  of  whose  whereabout  I  had  seen  the  day  before. 
On  arriving  at  the  place,  the  dogs  showed  signs  of  ex- 
citement, and  running  down  the  s^eep  they  soon  began 
to  give  tongue.  We  followed  as  fast  as  we  could,  and 
came  to  a  large  detached  rock,  behind  which  a  cave  ran 
into  the  mountain.  Several  marks  showed  that  the  bear 
was  at  home ;  the  dogs  barked  furiously,  and  I  laid  aside 
my  rifle  and  pouch,  and  was  about  to  enter  the  cave 
with  my  drawn  knife,  when  bruin  began  to  suspect  mis- 
chief. He  was  right  opposite  the  entrance,  but  a  slight 


182  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

bend  in  the  cave,  which  was  only  eight  feet  deep,  pre- 
,  vented  our  seeing  him.  He  would  not  have  cared  much 
for  the  dogs,  but  as  I  approached,  the  wind  was  behind 
me ;  the  moment  he  discovered  me,  he  began  snorting 
and  growling,  and  made  a  rush  which  nearly  upset  me, 
although  I  sprang  on  one  side.  Conwell,  who  had  seen 
many  such  affairs,  cooly  stood  at  the  entrance  with  his 
rifle  cocked,  watching  my  proceedings.  The  report  of 
the  rifle  was  heard  before  I  and  the  dogs  had  recovered 
ou*  Composure  after  the  rush  ;  the  bear  seemed  to  be  de» 
termined  that  nothing  should  stop  him,  and  disappeared  in 
a  gorge;  but  the  dogs  roused  by  the  shot,  were  soon  on 
his  traces.  The  old  man  laughed  heartily  as  he  saw  me 
standing,  knife  in  hand,  quite  disconcerted  at  the  mouth 
of  the  cave,  and  regretted  that  he  had  not  been  able  to 
give  all  his  attention  to  my  admirable  jump,  as  he  was 
obliged  to  look  after  the  beast. 

We  followed  the  dogs,  and  on  examining  a  rock  which 
the  bear  had  crossed,  we  found  drops  of  dark  blood,  and 
••"*  were  tolerably  sure  of  him.  Weakened  with  loss  of 
blood,  he  had  not  run  far  before  the  dogs  came  up  with 
him.  As  they  ware  both  young  and  untrained  to  bears, 
he  had  not  nuich  trouble  in  keeping  them  off.  but  they 
answered  our  purpose  in  stopping  him.  I  came  up  just 
as  he  had  shaken  off  the  dogs,  and  was  climbing  a  steep 
bluff.  I  fired  and  struck  his  right  paw,  and  as  he  fell, 
the  dogs  seized  him  again ;  my  companion  now  arrived, 
and  coolly  taking  aim,  sent  a  ball  through  his  heart. 
He  was  a  fat  two-year-old,  and  promised  a  delicate  re- 
past ;  we  decided  oiv  taking  him  home.  So,  while  C. 
skinned  and  cut  him  up,  I  returned  to  the  camp,  to  fetch 


TURKEY   SHOOTING.  133 

the  horse  with  our  blankets  and  game,  and  as  I  rode 
past,  I  brought  away  the  other  half  of  the  doe,  which 
was  too  good  to  leave  behind.  As  the  day  was  now  far 
advanced,  and  the  horse  had  about  200  Ibs.  to  carry, 
we  resolved  to  camp  for  the  night  near  the  first  spring 
we  came  to. 

As  we  crossed  a  flat  on  the  top  of  a  mountain,  we 
heard  a  horrible  noise  from  a  large  gang  of  turkeys,  a 
sure  sign  of  bad  weather.  Conwell^  sprang  from  his 
horse,  and  we  ran  towards  the  sound.  When  near 
enough,  I  cheered  on  the  dog,  and  in  an  instant  the  whole 
forest  was  alive  with  turkeys.  A  great  big  fellow  flapped 
into  a  tree  about  sixty  yards  in  front  of  me,  and  fell  to 
the  ground  with  a  ball  from  my  rifle.  While  loading,  I 
observed  Conwell  going  about  with  his  rifle  at  his  cheek, 
carefully  watching  all  the  long  necks ;  then  he  stopped, 
took  aim,  and  fired.  But  the  turkey  only  reeled  on  the 
bough,  and  recovered  himself.  As  soon  as  I  was  loaded 
I  knocked  over  a  second,  and  by  this  time  the  greater 
part  of  the  gang  had  made  off;  but  the  one  Conwell  had 
hit,  sat  still,  badly  wounded,  with  the  blood  dropping 
fast.  Conwell  had  now  loaded  again,  and  shot  him 
through  the  head.  On  my  asking  why  he  had  not  se- 
lected another,  as  he  was  sure  of  this  one,  he  answered 
that  this  was  the  fattest  and  heaviest  of  the  whole  gang, 
and  he  was  right.  Mine  -were  both  large  birds,  but  his 
weighed  more  by  three  pounds.  He  laughed,  and  said 
he  had  not  looked  out  for  the  best  in  vain,  and  told  me 
"  when  the  turkeys  are  all  sitting  on  the  trees,  fright- 
ened at  the  dogs,  there  is  no  occasion  to  be  in  a  hurry 
to  shoot  the  first  that  comes — a  good  sportsman  should 


134  HUNTING  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

choose  the  best,  which  is  easily  done ;  a  short  thick  neck 
is  the  infallible  sign.  The  leaner  the  turkey,  the  longer 
and  thinner  his  neck.  The  bird  seems  larger,  but  take 
care  to  shoot  the  thick-necks,  and  I'll  wager  that  they 
ain't  so  bad  to  eat."  Long  experience  has  since  taught 
me  that  ho  was  right,  but  it  required  some  time  before  I 
was  cool  enough  to  look  at  the  turkeys  on  their  perch, 
and  make  a  choice  amongst  them.  We  opened  them  on 
the  spot,  for  it  is  extraordinary  how  soon  they  spoil,  even 
in  cold  weather,  if  this  is  not  done.  We  threw  two  of 
them  over  the  horse,  while  I  shouldered  the-  third,  and, 
in  a  very  short  time  we  came  to  a  spring  of  good  water, 
and  made  a  camp  for  the  night. 

One  of  the  results  of  our  camping  out,  with  supper 
and  breakfast,  was  the  disappearance  of  one  of  the  tur- 
keys, and  half  the  bear's  ribs.  With  strength  well 
recruited,  we  set  off  for  the  dwelling  of  my  old  friend, 
and  reached  it  about  two  in  the  afternoon.  It  was  dark 
by  the  time  when  the  skins  were  stretched  and  the  meat 
salted,  when  we  sat  round  the  fire  and  talked  over  old 
times. 

We  were  tired  and  went  betimes  to  bed,  intending  to 
sally  forth  early  next  morning;  but  the  rain  poured 
down  the  whole  night,  and  we  had  forgotten  to  take  our 
blankets  in  from  the  fence,  so  that,  it  may  be  supposed, 
they  were  rather  damp ;  however,  we  were  not  vexed. 
We  had  plenty  of  provisions ;  a  little  repose  would  not 
hurt  us,  especially  as  we  were  looking  forward  to  fresh 
adventures. 

We  made  ourselves  comfortable,  provided  wood,  and 
had  placed  ourselves  in  a  half  circle  round  the  fire,  when 


A   COMFORTABLE   EVENING.  135 

little  John  ran  in  and  told  us  that  he  was  just  come  from 
a  neighbor's,  who  had  sent  out  his  negro  to  count  the 
little  pigs,  which  a  sow  was  bringing  with  her  out  of  the 
forest.  After  a  little  while  he  came  in,  and  said  gravely, 
that  he  counted  nineteen,  but  that  one  had  run  about  so, 
that  he  could  not  count  him.  Conwell  now  commenced 
a  story  of  his  early  days,  in  the  following  words : — 
"About  forty  years  ago  my  parents  moved  into  the 
Cumberland  mountains ;  and  as  the  land  was  good  and 
fertile,  and  game  plentiful,  a  little  settlement  was  soon 
made.  We  were  very  comfortable,  grew  as  much  Indian 
corn  as  we  wanted,  had  plenty  of  venison,  bear,  and  wild- 
honey,  and  -we  could  always  procure  powder,  coffee,  and 
whatever  else  we  wanted  in  exchange  for  our  bear's  fat, 
skins,  &c. :  so  that  every  one  would  have  allowed  that 
we  ccXild  not  be  better  off,  but  for  one  circumstance  that 
embittered  our  existence  and  exposed  us  to  numberless 
dangers.  There  was  a  tribe  of  Tuskarora  Indians  in  our 
vicinity,  who  had  been  driven  out  of  the  north,  probably 
by  the  French,  and  who  plundered  and  murdered  when- 
ever they  found  an  opportunity.  Amongst  other  things, 
they  had  stolen  a  number  of  horses,  and  that  so  cun- 
ningly, that  for  a  long  time  they  eluded  all  our  efforts  to 
trace  them.  The  mountains  ended  in  a  bluff  several 
miles  long,  and  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  high,  so  steep 
that  no  bear,  let  alone  a  horse,  could  have  descended  it. 
As  soon  as  a  horse  was  missed,  those  who  went  to  seek 
him  examined  each  end  of  the  cliff,  without  ever  finding 
any  traces  of  the  animal.  I  was  then  about  twenty-two 
years  old,  and  one  day  I  was  out  with  my  dog, — and 
such  a  dog  I  have  never  seen  since.  Old  Beef  here  is  a 


136  HUNTING   SPORTS   OP  THE  WEST. 

good  fellow,  but  that  one  had  a  cross  of  a  bull  in  him ; 
well,  we  came  on  the  trail  of  a  fat  bear — for  fat  he  was — 
of  that  I  had  infallible  signs  ;  in  the  first  place,  because 
he  had  crossed  a  sandy  bed  of  a  small  stream  where  his 
footsteps  were  deeply  impressed^showmg  the  balls  round 
and  full ;  secondly,  I  found  that  he  had  not  eaten  the 
acorns  with  their  cups,  but  had  taken  the  trouble  to  se- 
parate them.  I  fancied  he  could  not  be  far  off,  and  fol- 
lowed up  the  trail,  which  led  towards  the  bluff;  at  about 
two  hundred  yards  from  it,  he  had  entered  the  stony 
bed  of  a  brook.  I  kept  close  up  with  the  dog,  making 
as  little  noise  as  possible,  and  only  taking  my  eye  off  the 
trail  when  a  turn  or  higher  ground  gave  me  a  chance  of 
seeing  the  beast.  As  I  proceeded  I  was  astonished  to 
find  traces  of  horses  leading  towards  the  bluff.  Two 
capital  horses  had  been  stolen  from  us  a  few  nights  be- 
fore, and  we  had  looked  everywhere  for  •  traces  of  them, 
without  success  ;  of  course,  no  one  thought  of  looking  on 
the  edge  of  the  cliff. 

"  My  previous  astonishment  was  nothing  to  what  I  ex- 
perienced, when  I  came  to  the  place,  where,  after  heavy 
rain,  the  brook  falls  over  the  cliff,  but  which  in  dry 
weather  does  not  contain  a  drop  of  water,  and  found, 
where  the  depth  might  be  about  twenty  feet,  two  fir-trees, 
rounded,  and  placed  standing  against  the  rock,  just  so 
far  apart  that  a  horse  might  slide  down  them,  but  could 
not  fall  through;  that  this  was  the  use- they  had  been 
put  to  was  evident  from  the  marks  of  the  struggles  of  the 
horses,  before  they  were  launched,  and  from  patches  of 
horsehair  sticking  to  the  poles.  That  the  bear  had  de- 


INDIAN   STRATAGEM.  137 

cended  by  these  means  was  clear  from  the  marks  of  his 
claws  in  the  wood. 

"  It  would  not  have  done  for  the  dog ;— besides  the 
discovery  was  too  important  for  delay,  and  I  hastened 
home  to  give  information.  We  had  not  long  to  wait  to 
turn  it  to  account.  The  Indians,  who  had  stolen  a  couple 
of  horses  a  few  nights  before,  returned  for  some  more 
the  same  evening.  Luckily,  our  watchmen  gave  the 
alarm  in  time,  and  they  had  hardly  made  off  with  their 
booty,  when  we  started  by  a  nearer  road,  as  they  were 
obliged  to  choose  the  mos-t  stony  paths,  in  order  to 
leave  as  few  traces  as  possible,  and  thus  made  a  long 
circuit. 

"  About  nine  in  the  morning  we  arrived  opposite  the 
fir-trees,  and  hid  ourselves  in  the  trees  and  behind  rocks 
to  await  the  redskins.  About  noon  we  began  to  think 
that  they  must  have  discovered  our  trail,  and  would  not 
appear;  but  we  resolved  to  wait  till  dark.  We  were 
fifteen  in  all,  and  decided  not  to  fire  till  every  man  was 
sure  of  his  mark ;  and,  with  beating  hearts,  we  listened 
for  the  slightest  sounds.  We  had  almost  given  up  the 
hopes  of  seeing  them,  when  a  single  warrior  appeared,  in 
blanket  dress,  and  descended  the  cliff.  He  was  sent  to 
reconnoitre,  and  had  not  the  slightest  suspicion  of  danger ; 
for  he  passed  close  before  my  uncle  Ben,  who,  not  able  to 
resist  the  temptation,  or  fancying  that  he  was  discovered, 
I  know  not  which,  contrary  to  his  usual  caution,  fired. 
The  savage  leaped  high  in  the  air,  and  fell  on  his  face 
without  a  groan. 

"Now,  whether  the  Indians  thought  that  their  spy  had 
shot  something,  or  whether  they  thought  themselves 


138  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

strong  enough  to  disregard  a  single  man,  whom  chance 
might  have  brought  to  the  spot,  in  less  than  five  minutes 
the  whole  troop  were  on  the  edge  of  the  bluff,  about 
eighty  paces  from  our  hiding-place.  They  had  with  them 
only  the  four  horses  which  they  had  lately  stolen,  and  as 
we  well  knew  that  it  would  be  vain  to  seek  them  if  once 
their  suspicions  were  roused,  we  took  aim  in  silence.  The 
party  consisted  of  nine  men,  four  of  them  on  horseback ; 
we  might  easily  have  killed  them  all,  but  were  too  eager  to 
recover  the  horses ;  so  it  happened  that  all  aimed  at  the 
riders.  I  had  not  been  in  quite  such  a  hurry,  and  when 
the  others  turned  to  fly  I  aimed  at  one  just  as  he  was 
entering  the  thicket ;  he  gave  a  spring  and  threw  off  his 
blanket ;  I  saw  the  blood  spurt  out,  but  he  was  soon  out 
of  sight,  and  as  I  could  not  find  his  body,  I  think  he 
must  have  escaped. 

"  We  took  the  arms  and  dresses  of  the  slain,  bound 
them  on  the  horses,  left  the  corpses  to  the  wolves  and 
vultures,  and  entered  the  settlement  in  triumph  the  same 
evening.  It  was  long  before  we  saw  anything  more  of 
the  Tuskaroras,  who  withdrew  in  alarm  towards  Lake 
Ontario." 

By  this  time  dinner  was  ready,  and  after  dinner  we 
took  a  siesta ;  then,  what,  with  reading  and  conversation, 
it  was  evening  before  we  were  aware.  I  was  now  asked 
to  give  information  about  the  old  world,  and  to  tell  them 
whether  kings  would  take  off  people's  heads  when  they 
chose — and  how  houses  were  built  when  there  was  so 
little  wood — and  what  people  did  in  the  winter.  They 
were  much  astonished  when  I  mentioned  that  we  did  not 
grow  Indian  corn,  nor  let  the  cattle  run  wild ;  but  when 


SIMPLICITY   OF  THE   BACKWOODSMEN.  139 

X" 

I  said  that  we  sometimes  planted  trees,  the  children 
shook  their  heads,  and  even  the  old  ones  thought  that  I 
was  practicing  on  their  credulity ;  they  also  wanted  to 
know  if  kings  and  queens"  always  wore  their  crowns,  and 
if  they  walked  about  with  their  sceptres,  and  what  the 
nobility  looked  like. 

Next  morning,  starting  with  the  rising  sun,  we  took  a 
direction  towards  the  Richland  and  War-eagle,  two 
streams  which  flow  into  the  White  river.  We  took  no 
provisions  with  us,  but  rode  out  with  only  the  blankets 
on  the  horses,  as  Conwell  supposed  we  should  find  plenty 
of  game.  On  arriving  on  our  ground,  we  turned  the 
horses  loose,  who  bent  their  steps  homewards,  grazing 
as  they  went.  We  took  different  courses,  agreeing  to 
return  in  the  evening  to  the  place  where  our  blankets 
were  hanging  up.  I  walked  cautiously  and  slowly,  but 
8aw«nothing  of  either  deer  or  turkey ;  once  I  heard  the 
report  of  C.'s  rifle.  When  I  returned  to  the  camp  I 
made  a  good  fire,  spread  my  blanket,  placed  my  rifle  in 
readiness,  and  laid  me  down  to  rest.  About  sunset  I 
heard  a  light  step ;  at  first  I  thought  it  was  a  deer — it 
was  Conwell,  without  game  or  dog.  He  sat  down  by 
my  side  on  the  blanket,  and  observing  that  he  supposed 
I  must  be  very  hungry,  he  gave  a  faint  Smile,  and  said 
that  he  could  fast  until  to-morrow  evening.  He  might 
well  laugh.  He  said  his  dog  was  after  a  deer  which  he 
had  shot,  and,  judging  from  the  marks,  he  must  have 
been  hit  in  the  fleshy  part  of  the  haunch ;  the  dog,  be- 
ing young,  could  not  be  called  off  after  once  catching  the 
scent,  and  dog  and  deer  were  soon  out  of  sight. 

While  he  was  talking,  Bearsgrease  rose  up  and  snuffed 

mf 


140  HUNTING   SPORTS   OP  THE  WEST. 

the  air ;  Conwell  thought  it  must  be  his  dog  who  had 
found  his  trail.  As  I  supposed  so  too,  I  took  no  no- 
tice, until  I  thought  I  heard  a  short  bark,  and  Bears- 
grease,  growling  lightly,  gave  me  a  significant  look.  I 
jumped  up  with  my  rifle,  and  in  a  minute  a  noble  buck, 
with  horns  laid  back,  rushed  by  at  full  speed,  at  about 
twenty  paces  from  the  camp.  I  sent  a  ball  into  him, 
and  my  dog  was  instantly  close  on  his  heels.  He  did 
not  run  far ;  my  ball  had  broken  the  left  leg,  and  passed 
through  the  right.  After  running  about  200  paces,  he 
sprang  into  the  Richland,  on  whose  banks  we  were  en- 
camped, and  seemed  resolved  to  sell  his  life  as  dearly  as 
possible.  The  dogs  were  upon  him,  but,  as  they  were 
forced  to  swim,  while  he  touched  the  bottom,  he  had  not 
much  difficulty  in  shaking  them  off  again.  Conwell  re- 
mained lying  as  if  it  were  no  concern  of  his,  so  I  seized 
his  rifle,  ran  to  the  bank,  ended  the  poor  animal's  tor- 
ments with  a  ball  through  his  brain,  and  plunged  into 
the  water  to  pull  him  out.  *Now  we  had  meat  in  plenty ; 
the  skin  and  haunches  were  hung  up,  the  ribs  roasted, 
and  the  dogs  fed  before  dark. 

"VVe  slept  well  all  night,  and  were  up  early,  but  the 
leaves  were  so  dry  that  we  found  nothing  but  one  turkey, 
which  Conwell  knocked  over.  However,  the  sky  began 
to  get  cloudy,  and  as  we  had  meat  for  the  present,  our 
hopes  rose.  It  came  on  to  blow  from  the  north,  but  we 
were  protected  by  a  bank  of  about  ten  feet  high,  and 
thcrtigh  we  could  not  sit  close  to  it  on  account  of  sharp 
stones,  yet  it  kept  off  <some  of  the  cold  wind,  and  a  glo- 
rious fire  soon  made  us  forget  it. 

Supper  was  over,  and  Conwell  had  taken  off  one  of 


BIVOUAC — STORY   OF   THE    MOCCASINS.  141 

his  moccasins  to  take  a  stone  out,  when  he  said  that  it 
reminded  him  of  something  that  had  happened  to  him  a 
long  time  ago  when  he  was  a  child.  I  was  already- 
covered  up  in  my  blanket,  but  finding  that  he  had  a 
mind  to  talk,  I  roused  up,  gave  the  fire  a  poke  that  made 
the  sparks  fly,  and  leaning  back,  with  Bearsgrease  for  a 
pillow,  who  seemed  well  pleased  with  the  arrangement, 
I  waited  the  commencement  of  his  narrative. 

When  I  got  up,  Conwell  stopped ;  but  now  passing  his 
hand  over  his  face,  he  began : — 

"  I  was  between  five  and  six  years  old  when  my  father 
made  my  first  pair  of  moccasins,  for  he  was  a  very  good 
shoemaker,  and  had  always  made  strong  shoes  for  chil- 
dren, though  he  himself  always  wore  moccasins ;  but,  at 
my  earnest,  repeated  request,  he  made  a  pair  for  me, 
and  warned  me  particularly  not  to  lose  them.  On  this 
same  day  a  peddler  had  been  in  the  house,  and  had  per- 
suaded my  fathe/to  buy  a  pair  of  large  boots,  as  very  ser- 
viceable for  bad  weather ; — and  as  it  had  rained  a  great 
deal  lately,  he  put  them  on,  took  his  rifle,  and  sallied  forth 
to  the  forest.  He  was  hardly  gone  when  I  wished  to  wear 
my  new  moccasins ;  and,  to  my  horror,  found  that  one 
was  missing.  In  vain  I  searched  the  house  from  top  to 
bottom ;  it  was  gone,  and  the  other  seemed  to  be  there 
only  to  remind  me  of  my  loss,  and  the  punishment  await- 
ing me.  With  a  beating  heart  I  saw  my  father  return 
earlier  than  I  had  expected,  out  of  humor  with  the  bad 
weather  and  bad  sport ;  and  he  asked  roughly  why  I 
was  running  about  barefoot.  With  tears  in  my  eyes  I  told 
him  that  I  could  not  find  one  of  the  moccasins,  and  that 
I  thought  the  cat  must  have  run  off  with  it.  He  said  he 


142  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  -WEST. 

would  cat  me,  and  that  if  I  did  not  find  the  other  before 
night  I  should  suffer  for  it.  With  a  sorrowful  heart  I 
recommenced  my  search,  and  all  my  brothers  helped  me. 
Meantime  my  father  had  sat  himself  by  the  fire,  and 
complained  that  something  in  his  boot  had  plagued  him 
the  whole  day ;  so,  pulling  it  off,  and  feeling  inside,  what 
should  he  find  but  my  much-bemoaned  moccasin  ?  It  is 
easier  to  imagine  my  delight  than  to  express  it." 

Conwell  rolled  himself  in  his  blanket  and  fell  asleep, 
still  smiling  at  the  recollection.  I  could  not  sleep ;  his 
stor.y  had  recalled  events  of  my  own  childhood,  and  I 
kept  gazing  at  the  strange  and  changing  figures  in  the 
fire.  Bearsgrease  was  lying  close  to  me,  with  his  head 
on  my  shoulder;  he  had  raised  it  several  times,  and 
snuffed  the  air,  and  again  lain  down.  At  length  he 
roused  up  and  gave  a  slight  growl.  I  thought  I  heard 
something,  and  looking  up  to  the  bank  behind  me,  I  was 
astonished  to  find  two  glowing  eyeballs  steadily  fixed 
upon  me.  My  head  being  between  the  fire  and  the  ani- 
mal, I  could  see  them  plainly  just  above  the  bank.  It 
must  be  a  panther,  and  judging  from  the  position,  ready 
to  spring.  My  rifle,  as  usual,  lay  ready;  so,  half  rais- 
ing myself,  that  I  might  have  the  fire  in  a  line  with  the 
two  sights,  I  aimed  between  the  two  fiery  balls,  and  the 
rocks  reechoed  the  report. 

Old  Conwell  was  up  like  lightning  with  his  rifle  ready, 
and  the  dogs  hunted  about  while  I  reloaded,  but  all  was 
as  silent  as  the  grave.  The  old  fellow  shook  his  head, 
and  asked  what  on  earth  I  had  been  firing  at.  I  finished 
loading  without  a  word,  then  taking  a  brand  from  the 
fire  and  going  about  twenty  paces  to  a  slope  in  the  bank, 


ALMOST  SURPRISED  BY  A  PANTHER.      143 

I  mounted,  and  found  an  immense  panther,  quite  dead. 
I  threw  him  over,  and  Conwell  dragged  him  to  the  fire ; 
the  ball  had  pierced  his  brain  through  the  right  eye.  He 
was  a  very  powerful  beast,  had  enormous  fangs,  and  when 
we  cut  him  open,  his  stomach  was  found  quite  empty. 
He  must  have  been  attracted  to  the  fire  by  hunger,  and 
Comvell  thought  he  might  have  smelt  the  venison ;  he 
would  probably  have  ventured  a  spring  as  soon  as  the 
fire  burnt  low ;  the  dogs  could  not  scent  him,  as  he  was 
so  much  above  us.  After  skinning  him  we  threw  the 
carcass  into  the  river  below  the  camp,  as  the  dogs  would 
not  touch  it.  We  slept  the  rest  of  the  night  undisturbed. 

A  light  rain  fell  next  morning,  which,  in  about  an 
hour,  moistened  the  (lead  leaves  sufficiently  for  us  to 
w;ilk  without  making  a  noise ;  so  I  made  haste  to  stretch 
the  panther's  skin,  and  we  set  off,  each  as  before  taking 
a  separate  path.  Before  I  had  gone  half  a  mile  I  saw 
two  deer  grazing ;  just  at  this  moment  Conwell's  gun 
was  heard  at  some  distance,  and  they  both  raised  their 
heads  and  listened  attentively,  but  perceiving  nothing 
suspicious,  they  began  to  feed  again.  They  were  a  doe 
and  a  year-old  fawn,  and  when  they  were  in  a  line  I  fired; 
the  doe,  which  was  nearest,  fell  at  once,  and  the  fawn 
after  running  about  fifty  yards.  They  were  very  fat, 
and  I  hung  them  up. 

In  hanging  up  deer  it  is  necessary  to  take  precautions 
against  the  vultures,  which  are  a  great  annoyance  to 
sportsmen.  The  best  way  of  securing  the  deer,  whose 
skin  they  would  ruin  with  their  beaks,  is  to  hang  them 
up  by  their  heads,  so  that  their  vultures  may  have  no 
point  of  support,  and  must  content  themselves  with  peck- 


144  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE   WEST. 

ing  at  the  skull.  There  is  also  a  large  crow,  which  tries 
to  steal  the  fat ;  but  they  may  be  kept  off  by  placing  two 
peeled  sticks  crosswise  on  the  deer — for  the  crows  will 
not  venture  their  heads  between  two  such  suspicious- 
looking  objects. 

Continuing  my  march,  I  came  to  the  bank  of  a  stream 
running  into  the  Richland,  when  I  saw  a  wolf  spring  out 
of  a  thicket  on  the  opposite  side,  about  eighty  paces  off; 
he  ran  about  fifty  yards  and  then  stopped,  but  not  long 
enough  for  me  to  take  aim ;  finally  he  disappeared  among 
some  rocks.  I  crossed  over  to  the  thicket  to  see  how 
Bearsgrease  would  take  the  scent  of  a  wolf;  all  his  hairs 
bristled  up  the  moment  he  came  to  the  yet  warm  lair. 

Late  in  the  afternoon,  on  my  way  to  the  camp,  I  struck 
a  fresh  bear's  trail,  and  followed  it  up,  though  it  led  me 
out  of  my  way.  Meantime  it  began  to  rain  harder,  and 
coming  to  a  broad  stream,  which  the  bear  had  crossed, 
my  dog  lost  the  trail.  As  it  was  too  late  to  return  to 
the  camp,  I  considered  myself  lucky  in  finding  a  cave, 
two  feet  deep  in  leaves  driven  in  by  the  wind.  Without 
making  a  fire,  which  would  have  been  dangerous,  I  crept 
in,  taking  Bearsgrease  for  a  pillow,  who  was  much  pleased 
thereby,  and,  spite  of  wet  clothes,  I  slept  well  till  morn- 
ing, covered  up  with  the  leaves. 

The  morning  was  cold  and  wet,  my  clothes  were  still 
damp  from  yesterday's  rain,  and  I  was  as  hungry  as  a 
lion ;  so  altogether  I  did  not  feel  quite  so  comfortable  as 
I  could  wish.  But  walking  quick  to  warm  myself,  in 
about  an  hour's  time  I  reached  the  place  where  I  had 
left  the  two  deer,  hung  the  fawn  over  my  shoulders,  and 
not  long  after  gained  the  camp. 


DEER-KILLING   EXTRAORDINARY.  145 

The  fire  was  burning  bright  which  Conwell  had  only 
lately  left,  and  it  was  no  small  quantity  of  venison  that 
I  put  down  to  roast.  Having  appeased  my  appetite,  and 
fed  Bearsgrease,  I  laid  down  again  to  rest.  After  an 
hour's  time,  as  Conwell  did  not  return,  I  set  off  again ; 
it  was  still  very  cold.  As  I  was  passing  a  small  ravine 
I  saw  a  young  buck  feeding,  without  the  slightest  suspi- 
cion of  danger.  As  I  was  within  distance,  I  aimed  and 
fired ;  he  fell  as  if  shot  through  the  brain,  but  my  ball 
had  struck  too  high,  so  that  at  the  moment  when  I  came 
up  to  seize  him  he  recovered  himself,  and  rose  on  his 
forelegs.  I  saw  on  the  instant  that  there  was  no  time  to 
lose,  and  threw  myself  upon  him.  The  dog  had  also 
seized  him,  and  I  was  in  the  act  of  drawing  my  knife  to 
plunge  in  his  throat,  wheft  he  made  a  sudden  effort,  and 
we  all  three  tumbled  down  a  declivity  of  nine  or  ten  feet. 
In  falling  I  had  dropped  my  knife,  which  fell  among  the 
stones,  and  I  felt  much  pain  in  my  head  and  left  side ; 
but  neither  I  nor  Bearsgrease  had  let  go  our  hold.  The 
poor  animal  made  most  desperate  efforts  to  escape,  and 
with  our  greatest  exertions  it  was  hardly  possible  for  us 
to  hold  him.  Without  a  knife  there  was  but  one  method  t 
of  securing  him ;  a  cruel  one,  indeed,  but  if  I  had  to  bite 
his  neck  through  with  my  teeth  I  would  not  let  him  go. 
I  threw  him  over  on  his  side,  and  smashed  his  forelegs  with 
a  sharp  stone.  Thus  crippled,  Bearsgrease  could  hold 
him ;  I  jumped  up,  found  my  knife,  and  ended  the  poor 
creature's  torments. 

I  succeeded  in  slinging  it  with  a  great  deal  of  trouble, 
my  left  side  paining  me  exceedingly ;  however  I  managed 

to  climb  up  the  steep,  recovered  and  loaded  my  rifle,  and 
10 


146  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

Lobbied  towards  the  camp,  intending  to  remain  quiet  the 
rest  of  the  day. 

I  found  my  old  friend  awaiting  me.  He  had  killed 
four  bucks,  and  brought  away  their  haunches,  the  rest 
not  being  good  eating  at  this  season.  We  settled  to 
shoot  towards  the  house  next  day,  and  then  to  take 
horses  to  carry  home  the  game  we  had  shot. 

On  our  way  homewards  we  only  killed  three  turkeys. 
We  caught  the  horses  the  same  evening,  and  once  more 
reposed  our  weary  limbs  among  my  old  friend's  family 
circle. 

At  midnight  it  began  to  rain,  and  towards  morning  it 
poured  in  torrents.  The  game  was  not  to  be  thought  of, 
and  we  sat  round  the  fire  amusing  ourselves  with  old 
stories  and  anecdotes.  As  we.  were  talking  of  the  prai- 
ries, Conwell  told  us  one  of  his  adventures  after  buffaloes. 

"  Not  many  years  ago,  when  I  lived  in  the  Kickapoo 
prairie,  in  Missouri,  four  of  us  set  out  one  morning  to 
shoot  buffaloes.  It  was  bitter  cold*  and  we  rode  rapidly 
over  the  frozen  ground.  On  gaining  an  elevation,  we 
descried  a  herd  in  the  distance,  and  made  towards  them. 
When  about  half  a  mile  from  them  they  discovered  us, 
and  ran  off,  we  after  them  helter-skelter.  The  hindmost 
•was  a  cow,  too  fat  to  keep  up  with  the  others,  so  we  all 
singled  her  out  for  our  mark.  After  galloping  for  about 
a  mile,  she  received  all  our  balls,  and  fell,  when  we  se- 
cured her.  The  wind  was  now  blowing  from  the  north- 
west, almost  cold  enough  to  freeze  the  marrow  in  our 
bones,  and  the  dry  buffalo  dung,  the  only  fuel  in  the 
prairies,  made  but  a  poor  fire.  The  nearest  wood  was 
about  a  mile  from  the  place  where  the  cow  fell,  and  a 


STORY   OF   A   BUFFALO   HUNT.  147 

debate  arose  whether  we  should  fetch  the  wood  to  the 
buffalo,  or  carry  the  buffalo  to  the  wood.  We  thought 
the  latter  easier.  One  of  the  party,  named  Turner,  be- 
gan to  strip  off  the  skin  ;  we  offered  to  help  him,  but  he 
would  not  permit  it;  so,  willingly  leaving  the  cold  work 
to  him,  we  made  as  good  a,  fire  as  we  could  for  him  to 
warm  his  hands  by.  When  the  skin  was  off,  we  cut  off 
the  prime  pieces,  took  the  marrow-bones,  packed  them  in 
the  skin,  threw  them  over  a  horse,  and  brought  them  to 
the  nearest  wood,  where  we  luckily  found  water.  Our 
four  tomahawks  soon  cut  wood  enough,  and  we  made  a 
roaring  fire ;  when  it  was  burnt  to  charcoal  we  stuck  in 
the  marrow-bones,  first  one  end,  then  the  other ;  and 
certainly  there  is  no  more  delicate  eating  for  the  back- 
woodsman than  buffalo  marrow,  except  bear's  ribs,  and 
wild  honey.  The  meat  was  rather  tough,  and  nothing 
particular. 

"  It  was  now  getting  dark,  and  we  began  to  prepare 
our  camp.  One  of  the  party  proposed,  instead  of  each 
rolling  himself  separately  in  his  blanket,  that  we  should 
spread  the  skin,  which  was  large  enough  to  hold  us  all, 
and  then  lay  all  the  blankets  over  us.  But  Turner  ob- 
jected, and  maintained  that  as  he  had  skinned  the  cow 
alone,  he  alone  would  sleep  in  it.  It  was  all  the  same 
to  us;  we  all  had  good  blankets,  and  could  make  our- 
selves comfortable  by  the  fire,  which  we  closely  sur- 
rounded, while  Turner  wrapped  himself  in  his  heavy  skin, 
wiih  the  hairy  side  inwards; — and  we  were  all  soon 
asleep. 

u  The  weather  was  extremely  cold,  and  we  were 
obliged  to  get'up  several  times  in  the  course  of  the 


148  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

night,  to  lay  on  fresh  wood  though  Turner  never 
moved  out  of  his  warm  skin.  Towards  morning  the 
wind  changed  to  the  north-east,  and  the  sky  threatening 
a  snow  storm,  we  decided  on  returning  home  as  soon  as 
possible,  to  avoid  the  approaching  storm,  or  at  any  rate 
to  get  better  shelter  than  the  open  prairie  afforded.  So 
we  swallowed  our  breakfast  quickly,  and  saddled  the 
horses,  which  had  been  feeding  on  the  dry  grass,  and 
now  approached  as  close  as  they  could  to  the  fire.  We 
called  Turner  several  times  to  make  him  get  up,  but  a 
slight  motion  of  the  hide  was  the  only  answer.  At 
length,  a  half  smothered  cry  for  help  issued  from  the 
skin.  We  rushed  to  Turner  in  alarm,  fearing  something 
serious,  but  burst  into  a  roar  of  laughter,  on  finding  that 
he  was  frozen  in,  and  could  not  move  a  limb.  We 
rolled  him  to  the  fire,  to  thaw  the  skin,  and  set  him 
free ;  the  rolling  and  the  heat  made  him  feel  rather 
giddy,  but  a  hot  marrow-bone  restored  him ; — and  then 
loading  the  horses  with  the  softened  skin,  and  the  re- 
mainder of  the  meat,  we  reached  home  before  the  storm, 
which  came  on  that  evening  with  a  tremendous  force." 

The  weather  continued  gloomy  enough,  the  clouds 
hanging  abou^;  the  trees,  as  if  they  were  seeking  shelter 
from  the  wind,  which  was  driving  them  from  the  rocky 
mountains.  All  the  cattle  collected  near  the  house, 
with  their  tails  to  the  wind,  and  pendant  ears,  looking 
very  wretched.  Luckily  I  found  a  few  books, — such  as 
"A  Dialogue  of  Devils,"  "  The  Life  of  Marion,"  "The 
Life  of  Washington,"  "  The  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  "The 
United  States'  Reader,"  &c.,  and  killed  some  of  the 
time  by  turning  over  their  leaves. 


HUNTING    WOLVES.  149 

The  rain  lasted  till  the  12th  January.  The  various 
streams  had  become  cataracts  and  rivers,  so  we  were 
obliged  to  remain  at  home  two  days  longer.  Meantime 
our  store  of  meat  had  fallen  very  low,  and  there  appeared 
little  hope  of  being  able  to  use  that  which  we  had  left 
hanging  in  the  forest.  However  we  hastened  away  to 
save  the  skins,  if  there  was  yet  time.  The  streams  were 
still  so  swelled  that  we  could  only  pass  them  on  horse- 
back. We  reached  our  last  camp  about  noon,  and  found, 
as  we  had  expected,  that  the  meat  was  tainted,  and  the 
greater  part  of  it  devoured  by  vultures.  We  stretched 
the  skins,  in  the  hope  that  the  wind,  with  the  help  of  a 
faint  sun,  which  was  peering  bashfully  through  the 
clouds,  might  dry  them. 

As  it  grew  late,  and  we  had  no  other  provisions  than 
bread  and  salt,  we  set  off*  with  the  dogs  to  look  for  tur- 
keys, and  came  upon  a  gang  just  as  they  Were  making 
themselves  comfortable  for  the  night.  We  killed  two, 
and  might  have  shot  more,  but  did  not  wish  to  increase 
the  quantity  of  decaying  meat  in  the  neighborhood.  On 
this  account  we  removed  our  camp  about  half  a  mile  off, 
stretched  our  blankets  to  keep  off  a  light  drizzling  rain, 
hobbled  the  horses,  and  fed  them  with  maize.  The 
wolves  made  a  dreadful  noise  all  night  at  our  old  quar- 
ters. In*  the  morning  the  rain  held  up,  and  the  clouds 
separated  a  little;  so  I  set  off  to  try  and  steal  a  march 
on  them,  and  spoil  their  howling.  The  leaves  were  wet, 
and  going  round  to  gain  the  wind,  I  crept  for  about  two 
hundred  yards  on  my  knees  up  to  a  large  tree,  ami 
counted  eight  of  them.  Although  they  were  to  wind- 
ward of  me,  one  of  them  raised  his  head  and  began  snuff- 


150  HUNTING   SPORTS    OF   THE   WEST. 

ing  th'e  air,  then  turned  sharp  round,  and  they  all  made 
off  with  their  peculiar  long  gallop  for  the  bush.  NOAV 
was  my  time  or  never ;  I  aimed  at  one  of  the  largest, 
which  covered  another  with  its  body.  When  the  smoke 
cleared  away  not  a  wolf  was  to  be  seen ;  they  had  van- 
ished like  magic-— but  following  up  the  trail,  I  found  one 
dead,  and  signs  of  another  being  wounded ;  but  I  found 
nothing  more  of  the  latter, — he  was  probably  torn  to 
pieces  by  his  comrades.  I  scalped  my  prize,  and  re- 
turned to  the  camp;  the  scalp  is  valued,  as  before  stated, 
at  three  dollars. 

Meantime  Conwell  had  employed  himself  in  roasting 
turkeys,  and  we  made  an  excellent  breakfast.  We  then 
started  off  again.  When  I  came  to  the  place  where  I 
had  hung  up  the  buck,  whose  capture  nearly  cost  me  my 
neck,  I  found  that  the  wolves  bad  succeeded  in  dragging 
it  down,  and  eaten  nearly  all  but  the  bones.  I  knocked 
over  another,  and  also  killed  a  wild-cat ;  returning  to 
camp  in  the  afternoon,  where  Conwell  had  arrived  before 
me.  He  had  killed  a  couple  of  deer,  and  we  decided  on 
bringing  them,  to  the  camp,  as  there  were  so  many  wolves 
about. 

Finding  no  traces  of  boars,  we  determined  to  leave  the 
Kichland  and  try  the  Mulberry  again  ;  so  next  morning 
we  loaded  our  horses,  and  set  off  on  our  return:  As  we 
were  descending  a  hill,  Conwell  stopped  suddenly  at  the 
foot  of  a  large  oak,  and  after  examining  the  bark  atten- 
tively, he  said  that  a  bear  was  either  in  the  tree,  or  had 
very  lately  left  it.  The  weather  had  improved,  and  it 
was  again  rather  cold.  We  had  nothing  better  than  our 
tomahawks  for  cutting  down  the  tree,  and  they  were  not 


*    ' 
IN  me 


B1UJIN    IN    HIS    NEST.  ,"> 

> 

very  sharp  ;  a  few  strokes  proved  the  fact.  Luckily  for 
us  it  was  hollow,  and  we  set-to  with  a  will. 

After  hacking  at  it  for  three  hours,  the  tree  began  to 
crack.  We  seized  our  rifles,  called  the  dogs,  and  has- 
tened towards  the  direction  in  which  the  tree  must  fall, 
to  be  ready  to  receive  him.  A  couple  of  small  splinters 
broke  first ;  then  a  large  one ;  then  the  top  began  to 
bend  slowly  down  the  hill;  then  with  a  loud  crash,  and 
smashing  its  branches  in  the  fall,  the  tree  measured  its 
.length  on  the  ground.  No  bear  appeared;  the  nest  was 
empty,  though  there  could  be  no  doubt  it  had  lately  been 
tenanted,  for  the  sides  were  beautifully  smooth  and  ck-au. 
There  was  a  bough  about  five  feet  below  the  hole,  where 
the  bear  went  in  and  out,  on  which  an  Indian  must  for- 
merly haye  stood,  and  tried  to  make  an  opening  with  his 
tomahawk,  but  without  success ;  probably  the  bear,  dis- 
turbed by  the  blows,  had  made  his  way  out  in  time. 
Judging  by  the  bark,  this  must  have  occurred  about  four 
or  five  years  ago. 

While  we  were  looking  at  it,  Conwell  asked  what  the 
dogs  were  about ;  they  appeared  to  be  very  eagerly  lick- 
ing up  something  from  the  ground,  and  we  found  that, 
accidentally,  we  had  cut  down  a  tree  with  honey  in  it. 
The  bees  were  all  torpid  with  the  cold)  and  the  dogs  were 
enjoying  the  honey,  which  the  breaking  boughs  had 
brought  to  light.  Our  plans  were  soon  arranged ;  Con- 
well  went  to  look  for  a  deer ;  I  took  my  tomahawk  t  • 
cut  a  trough,  and  was  soon  busy  about  the  upper  part  of 
the  trunk,  which  was  sound  enough.  As  it  was  freezing, 
and  the  honey  would  not  run,  there  was  no  occasion  to 
make  the  trough  very  deep ;  so  it  was  soon  finished,  and 


152  HUNTING   SPORTS   OP  THE  WEST. 

I  loaded  it  with  great  lumps  of  the  frozen  delicacy. 
This  done,  I  collected  wood  and  made  a  fire,  expecting 
we  should  pass  the  night  here  ;  but  just  then  I  heard  the 
report  of  Conwell's  gun  quite  near,  followed  by  his  hail : 
I  answered,  and  was  soon  by  his  side.  He  had  killed  a 
large  fat  doe,  which  we  hung  up  by  the  hind  legs,  made 
a  cut  above  the  haunch,  and  drew  off  the  skin  without 
another  touch  of  the  knife,  except  at  the  knees,  hocks, 
and  head ;  stopping  the  holes,  we  turned  it  with  the  hair 
outwards,  and  so  made  a  bag  to  carry  the  honey.  When 
it  was  all  in,  I  mounted,  Conwell  handed  it  to  me,  and 
away  we  went  homewards,  leaving  the  greater  part  of  the 
last  deer  behind. 


BEAR  AND  PANTHER  HUNTING. 

WE  had  no  trifle  to  carry,  and  were  very  glad  to  reach 
home ;  but  our  feet  were  hardly  out  of  the  stirfups  when 
we  heard  that  some  Indians  had  looked  in.  They  had 
discovered  a  cave  which  certainly  contained  a  bear,  but 
the  Cherokees,  who  had  first  found  it,  had  not  ventured 
to  penetrate  far,  as  it  was  deep  and  narrow.  This  was 
grist  to  our  mill.  The  skins  and  meat  were  stowed  away, 
the  rifles  discharged  and  cleaned,  horses  fed,  and  all  pre- 
pared for  a  regular  hunt.  We  passed  the  evening  in 
telling  stories  about  bears ;  among  others  Conwell  re- 
lated the  following  anecdote  respecting  their  winter  sleep : 
"In  this  southern  climate,  the  bear  generally  lays  up 


BEARS   IN   THEIR   WINTER-QUARTERS.  155 

about  Christmas, 'or  the  beginning  of  the  year,  and  re- 
mains till  the  end  of  February ;  if  the  weather  is  then 
mild  he  comes  out  occasionally,  and  sometimes  he  does  rot 
return  to  his  winter-quarters,  but  prepares  a  new  lair  by 
biting  down  branches,  and  making  a  bed  for  himself  in 
the  most  secluded  and  thickest  jungle,  as  far  removed  as 
possible  from  the  haunts  of  man.  If  they  go  into  a  cave, 
they  do  not  take  any  provisions  with  them,  but  keep 
sucking  their  paws,  whining  all  the  time ;  when  they  be- 
come torpid,  they  lie  with  their  head  doubled  under  them, 
and  their  fore-paws  above  it.  I  myself  have  crawled  into 
a  cave,  and  poked  bears  with  the  end  of  my  rifle,  to  make 
them  raise  their  heads,  so  that  I  might  conveniently  fire 
into  their  brains ;  and  the  bears  were  always  cowardly 
in  the  cave,  except  they  had  young,  when  they  fight 
furiously — but  even  then,  only  when  they  have  no  other 
choice.  When  the  weather  is  warm  and  they  come  out 
to  drink,  it  is  extraordinary  how  exactly  they  always  step 
in  the  same  place;  but  as  the  marks  are  thereby  made  so 
much  deeper,  these  '  stepping  paths,'  as  they  are  called, 
are  easily  discovered." 

The  night  was  bitter  cold ;  the  day  broke  as  fine  as  a 
sportsman  could  wish.  One  of  Conwell's  married  sons, 
who  lived  in  the  neighborhood,  joined  our  party,  and 
another  young  man  named  Smith,  and  as  we  rode  by 
the  school,  the  master  dismissed  all  the  boys  and  girls, 
as  the  temptation  to  accompany  us  was  too  strong  to  be 
resisted.  We  took  plenty  of  fir  splinters  for  torches, 
and  our  guide  was  young  Smith,  who  was  one  of  the 
party  who  had  tracked  the  bear,  but  not  ventured  very 
far  into  the  cave. 


156  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE  WEST. 

We  reached  the  entrance  about  two  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  and  prepared  a  good  dinner  to  strengthen  us 
for  the  exertions  in  prospect.     While  the  meat  was  roast- 
ing, I  took  a  survey  of  the  outside,  which  presented  a 
wall  of  limestone  roek,  about  thirty  feet  high,  and  about 
three  hundred  feet  long,  with  four  openings.     After  hav- 
ing well  fortified  the  inner  man,  we  prepared  to  enter  the 
cave.     We  took  only  one  rifle  with  us,  but  each  had  his 
large  hunting-knife,  and  I  buckled  my  powder-horn  close 
to  my  side ;  then  with  my  rifle  in  my  right  hand,  and  a 
torch  of  at  least  twenty  inches  in  my  left,  we  entered  a 
dark  passage  about  four  feet  high  and  two  feet  wide ; 
young  Conwell  came  next  to  me  with  another  torch,  fol- 
lowed by  his  father  with  a  bundle  of  splinters  to  replace 
the  torches  as  they  burnt  out.     For  about  eighty  yards 
it  was  all  hard  rock,  and  we  advanced  easily  enough. 
But  now  came  a  sudden  turn  to  the  right,  and  the  cave 
was  so  low  that  we  were  obliged  to  crawl  on  our  hands 
and  knees;  the  bottom  was  stiff  clay,  with  numerous 
marks  of  bears,  some  quite  fresh.     As  we  advanced  the 
passage  beeame  still  smaller,  and  we  were  obliged  to 
crawl  on  our  stomachs.     Thus  far  the  Indians  had  pene- 
trated, as  we  found  by  splinters  of  fir,  and  marks  of  their 
elbows  and  knees  in  the  clay.     The  passage  was  now  so 
small  that  I  was  obliged  to  lie  quite  flat,  and  push  myself 
along  by  my  feet  assisted  by  my  left  elbow,  holding  the 
torch  in  my  left  hand,  and  the  rifle  in  front  with  the 
right.      The    aperture   was    quite    round,    and    rubbed 
smooth  by  the  passing  in  and  out  of  wild  animals,  who 
may. perhaps  have  made  this  their  winter-quarters   for 
hundreds  of  years.     Here  and  there  we  found  stalactites, 


BRUIN'S  CAVE.  157 

which  were  a  great  hindrance,  and  we  often  had  con- 
siderable difficulty  in  pushing  ourselves  through., 

Apparently,  we  were  the  first  whites,  indeed  the  first 
men,  who  had  ever  ventured  into  the  place,  for  the 
ground  retained  every  impression  that  had  heen  made  in 
it.  In  some  places  the  marks  of  the  bears  were  pet- 
rified, having  perhaps  been  left  centuries  ago.  Once  the 
thought  occurred  to  me :  should  we  ever  get  out  again, 
or  perish  here  from  hunger  ?  I  went  on  however,  all  my 
senses  on  the  stretch,  to  discover  the  sleeping  bear. 

We  disturbed  immense  numbers  of  bats  with  our 
torches,  and  found  also  several  crickets  and  a  few  blue- 
bottle flies.  When  my  torch  was  nearly  burnt  out;  I 
stopped  for  a  supply  from  young  Conwell ;  the  moment 
I  remained  quite  still,  I  thought  I  heard  a  low  whining 
not  far  off;  and  listening  attentively,  I  distinctly  heard 
the  sound  bear  cubs  make  in  sucking,  and  a  low  deep 
growling ;  so  there  was  no  longer  a,ny  doubt  but  that  we 
were  near  a  she-bear  with  cubs. 

The  place  where  I  had  stopped  was  rather  more 
roomy,  so  that  I  could  sit  up,  and  I  turned  to  the  two 
Conwells  and  asked  if  they  heard  the  sound,  which  they 
answered,  with  a  whispered  "Yes;" — and  we  held  a 
short  council  as  to  further  proceedings.  In  the  first 
place,  the  cave  was  smaller  further  on — secondly  we  had 
only  expected  a  sleeping  bear,  instead  of  a  she-bear 
awake  and  with  cubs,  for  which  it  was  rather  early  in 
the  season ;  though  C.  told  me  afterwards,  that  in  Ar- 
kansas he  had  occasionally  met  with  bear  cubs  as  early 
as  January.  Whoever  has  seen  a  she-bear  defend  her 
young,  with  ears  laid  back  and  open  jaws,  may  form 


158  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE   WEST. 

some  idea  of  our  feelings.  We  were  all  bear-killers, 
and  knew  well  enough  the  clanger  we  were  encountering 
in  a  space  almost  too  narrow  to  admit  of  any  movement. 
But  at  all  events  there  we  were,  and  there  was  the  bear 
— and  no  one  even  hinted  at  a  retreat. 

I  examined  my  rifle  closely  to  see  that  all  was  right, 
and  as  we  slowly  worked  our  way  forwards,  the  elder 
Conwell  warned  me  to  make  sure  of  my  shot,  adding 
drily,  by  way  of  comfort,  that  it  would  be  all  the  better 
for  me ;  for  if  I  missed  I  should  be  the  first  to  suffer 
from  the  animal's  fury. 

We  came  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  growling  bear,  who 
certainly  must  long  since  have  heard  us,  and  was  now 
listening  with  all  her  might.  At  length  the  mingled 
whining  and  growling  appeared  to  be  quite  close,  arid 
holding  the  torch  behind  my  head,  I  plainly  saw  fiery 
eyeballs.  I  now  halted,  cleared  the  sight  of  the  rifle, 
which  had  got  clogged  with  the  clay,  refreshed  my 
torch,  and  crept  as  silently  as  possible  towards  the  dark 
mass. 

The  decisive  moment  was  come ;  and  as  I  could  now 
distinguish  the  animal's  head  through  the  surrounding 
darkness,  I  put  myself  in  an  attitude  to  take  aim.  The 
bear  had  risen  on  her  hind  legs,  and  sat  with  their  usual 
swinging  motion ;  as  I  was  trying  to  fix  one  of  her  eyes 
with  the  rifle,  she  suddenly  disappeared  through  the  al- 
most palpable  darkness. 

Following  her  up,  we  came  upon  three  cubs,  nice  little 
things,  which  roared  lustily  when  for  the  first  time  they 
saw  a  light.  These  sounds  were  by  no  means  agreeable 
to  us,  for  we  had  reason  to  fear  that  the  cries  of  the  cubs 


OUR  ADVENTURE  IN  THE  CAVE.        159 

might  still  more  enrage  the  dam.  We  wished  to  save 
them  alive,  and  asked  old  Conwell  to  stay  with  them 
and  quiet  them  and  to  make  a  fire,  while  we  went  after 
the  old  one.  Conwell  sat  down,  and  soon  quieted  them 
by  giving  them  a  finger  to  suck. 

About  ten  feet  from  the -lair  the  cave  divided  into  two 
passages  of  equal  size.  The  fresh  marks  showed  that 
the  bear  had  taken  the  one  to  the  right.  Presently  the 
cubs  began  to  cry  again  with  renewed  force,  which  ra- 
ther alarmed  us,  for  we  should  have  been  in  an  awkward 
predicament  if  the  bear  had  endeavored  to  hasten  to 
their  help,  and  found  the  way  blocked  up  by  our  bodies ; 
for,  with  the  best  will  in  the  world,  she  could  neither 
pass  over  us,  nor  by  our  sides,  and  there  was  no  other 
way  left  than  to  kill  us,  and  eat  her  way  through.  While 
we  were  consulting  together  about  this  matter,  in  a  low 
voice,  the  cry  suddenly  ceased,  and  we  pushed  on  silently 
in  better  spirits ;  for,  from  all  that  we  had  seen,  this 
bear  was  rather  more  cowardly  than  usual. 

We  went  on  and  on,  to  the  great  annoyance  of  our 
ribs  and  elbows,  and  there  seemed  to  be  no  end  to  the 
cave.  There  was  a  peculiarity  about  it,  which  I  never 
found  in  any  other,  namely,  several  flat  stones  about 
one  and  two  inches  thick,  which  rang  like  steel  when 
slightly  struck  with  the  finger.  One  place  was  very  re- 
markable. It  was  about  fifty  or  sixty  feet  long,  with 
similar  flat  stones  on  each  side,  approaching  to  within 
six  inches  of  each  other  in  the  middle,  so  that  one  could 
have  passed  through  in  a  sitting  posture,  with  the  neck 
in  the  narrow  part,  and  the  head  in  the  upper  compart- 
ment; but  to  say  the  least,  this  would  have  been  a  rather 


160  HUNTING  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

inconvenient  position  for  receiving  the  attack  of  an  en- 
raged bear. 

After  clearing  this  double  passage,  we  arrived  at  a 
spring,  which  had  worn  itself  a  channel  of  about  eigh- 
teen inches  deep,  and  eight  or  nine  wide.  After  work- 
ing our  way  through  another  difficult  pass,  as  I  was  in 
the  act  of  drawing  a  long  breath,  I  heard  a  deep  growl 
very  near  me.  Although  I  had  been  listening  for  this 
sound  every  foot  of  the  way  for  several  hours,  yet,  on 
heaving  it  so  suddenly  and  so  close,  I  was  rather  star- 
tled, and  nearly  let  fall  the  torch ;  but  quickly  recover- 
ing, and  raising  the  torch  as  high  as  possible,  to  the  dis- 
comfort and  horror  of  several  innocent  bats,  I  could 
make  out  Mrs.  Bruin,  about  ten  yards  off,  sitting  up- 
right, gnashing  her  teeth,  digging  into  the  ground  with 
her  sharp  claws,  and  apparently  in  the  worst  possible 
humor. 

Young  Conwell,  who.  was  close  behind  me,  laid  his 
hand  lightly  on  my  foot,  and  whispered  that  he  heard 
the  bear.  As  I  had  obtained  this  intelligence  for  myself, 
I  whispered  to  him  to  be  quiet,  and  creeping  forward  a 
couple  of  paces,  I  came  to  a  place  from  whence  I  thought  I 
could  fire  with  effect.  I  placed  my  right  foot  in  the 
channel  of  the  stream,  raised  myself  as  well  as  I  could 
on  my  left  knee,  and  brought  up  the  rifle.  Young  Con- 
well,  who  was  anxiously  watching  all  my  motions,  whis- 
pered me  for  God's  sake  to  aim  carefully,  for  if  I  made 
a  bad  shot  we  were  both  done  for.  Although  I  was 
nearer  the  danger  than  he  was,  I  would  not  have  changed 
places  with  him,  as  he  could  not  see  what  was  going  on, 
and  must  naturally  fear  the  worst  j  and  in  such  cases,  it 


ATTACK  AND   RETREAT.  161 

is  preferable  to  be  in  the  post  of  danger,  than  to  remain 
in  a  state  of  suspense. 

The  bear,  by  no  means  pleased  with  our  intrusion,  laid 
back  her  ears,  snapped  her  teeth,  and  kept  constantly 
swinging  to  and  fro ;  as  she  did  not  sit  quite  upright  I 
had  no  other  choice  than  to  aim  at  the  head,  in  the  hope 
that  if  I  missed  my  aim,  the  ball  might  pierce  the  breast. 
As  I  was  taking  aim,  the  thought  crossed  my  brain  for  a 
moment  (why  should  I  deny  it  ?)  how  helpless  I  was  if 
the  shot  failed ;  but  it  lasted  only  a  moment,  and,  in  the 
excitement  of  the  present,  I  forgot  both  past  and  fu- 
ture. 

I  took  a  long  aim,  and  yet,  as  the  bear  was  not  still  for 
one  second,  I  pulled  the  trigger  too  soon.  The  cave  was 
filled  with  thick  smoke ;  a  fearful  groan  announced  that 
the  beast  was  wounded ;  we  did  not  wait  to  examine  the 
state  of  affairs,  but  crept  back  as  fast  as  the  narrow 
space  would  allow,  to  a  spot  where  there  was  more  room 
to  move,  in  order  to  reload  and  return  to  the  attack. 

We  had  retreated,  backwards,  for  about  a  hundred 
yards,  and  had  halted  in  a  more  convenient  part  of  the 
cave,  when  we  heard  the  bear  coming  towards  us  snort- 
ing and  snapping  her  teeth,  till  the  cave  echoed  with 
the  sound.  My  first  thought  was  "  Good-bye  to  the 
light  of  the  sun."  But  I  had  not  much  time  for  consi- 
deration, and  called  to  young  Conwell  to  make  haste  if 
he  valued  our  lives,  for  the  old  one  was  coming.  He 
did  not  require  much  pressing,  and  I  never  saw  crabs 
crawl  backwards  quicker  than  we  tried  to  do ;  yet,  how- 
ever great  our  hurry,  and  imminent  our  danger,  it  was 
11 


162  HUNTING  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

very  slow  work,  and  the  snorting  came  nearer  and 
nearer. 

I  had  dropped  my  rifle,  as  it  very  much  hindered  my 
retreat,  and  keeping  a  sharp  look-out  in  front,  where  I 
constantly  expected  to  see  the  bear,  I  suddenly  disco- 
vered the  glowing  eyes,  only  a  few  paces  off.  Just  at 
this  moment,  my  left  elbow  struck  against  a  projecting 
bit  of  rock ;  the  torch  fell  out  of  my  hand,  and  all  was 
dark  as  pitch ;  for  although  young  Conwell  had  a  second 
torch,  my  body  filled  up  the  space  so  completely  that 
not  a  ray  of  light  could  pass.  I  took  up  the  glimmer- 
ing splinter,  ^,nd  threw  it  at  the  bear,  which  checked  her, 
but  only  for  a  moment.  Suddenly  young  Conwell 
stopped,  and  said  he  could  not  find  the  passage,  and 
making  a  slip  with  his  right  hand,  which  held  the  torch, 
he  dropped  it  in  the  water.  I  could  not  answer  for  the 
bear,  who  had  followed  us  slowly,  as  if  she  knew  that  we 
were  doing  our  best  to  get  out  of  her  way ;  she  must 
have  been  so  near,  that  I  felt  sure  that  if  I  stretched 
out  my  arm  to  its  full  extent,  I  should  touch  her,  for  I 
could  feel  her  hot  breath  on  my  face.  With  my  left 
arm  a  little  in  advance,  the  right  with  the  hunting-knife 
drawn  back,  I  awaited,  with  every  stroke  of  the  pulse, 
the  beast's  attack,  thinking  of  nothing  else  than  selling 
my  life  as  dearly  as  possible ;  for  I  had  no  hopes  of  get- 
ting out  alive. 

Meantime,  young  Conwell  had  not  been  idle.  Aware 
that  we  could  do  nothing  without  a  light,  he  had  felt  for 
his  tinder-box,  and  the  noise  of  his  flint  and  steel  was 
the  only  sound  that  broke  a  silence  like  that  of  the 


PURSUED  BY  A  WOUNDED  BEAR.  168 

grave,  for  at  the  first  blow,  the  bear  had  ceased  growling 
to  listen  to  the  strange  sounds. 

After  a  painful  and  anxious  pause,  he  called  out,  "  I 
have  got  a  light,  give  me  the  powder-horn  and  a  rag." 
I  cut  away  the  first  from  its  sling,  then  tore  off  a  piece 
of  my  hunting-shirt,  and  passed  them  behind  me.  In 
a  few  minutes  he  recovered  his  splinter ;  this  gave  us, 
or  rather  me,  new  hopes,  for  he  had  no  fear — firstly, 
because  he  could  not  know  how  near  the  bear  was  ;  and, 
secondly,  because,  as  he  assured  me  afterwards,  he  was 
so  intent  on  striking  a  light,  that  he  could  think  of  no- 
thing else.  He  had  also  succeeded  in  turning  himself 
round,  and  his  voice  sounded  to  me  like  an  angel's  song 
when  he  called  out  that  he  had  found  the  passage.  He 
had  now  the  advantage  of  creeping  forwards,  while  I 
was  still  obliged  to  show  front  to  the  bear ;  but  he  gave 
me  a  few  more  splinters  of  fir,  and  a  light,  and  we  again 
began  our  slow  retreat  towards  the  entrance. 

As  I  held  the  torch  forwards,  the  bear  gave  a  deep 
growl,  gnashed  her  teeth,  and  retreated  a  pace  or  two, 
but  followed  again  as  soon  as  she  saw  that  I  was  retir- 
ing. Necessity  sharpens  invention,  I  laid  a  couple  of 
burning  sticks  crosswise  on  the  ground,  and  saw,  to  my 
inexpressible  delight,  that  she  did  not  venture  to  pass 
them.  Shuffling  back  as  fast  as  I  could,  I  heard  Jim 
(young  C.)  call  out  to  his  father  to  go  back,  as  the  bear 
was  coming.  No  other  words  were  spoken,  and  indeed 
the  growling  came  nearer ;  the  fire  had  probably  gone 
out  on  the  moist  ground,  and  then  she  followed  us 
again. 

I  now  crawled  over  the  place  where  we  had  first  dis- 


164  HUNTING   SPORTS    OF  THE   WEST. 

covered  her,  and  found  out  the  reason  why  the  cubs  had 
so  suddenly  ceased  their  cry.  When  we  stopped,  uncer- 
tain what  to  do,  old  C.  had  dashed  their  heads  against 
the  rock,  and  thus,  most  likely,  saved  our  lives ;  for  a 
cry  from  the  cubs  when  our  torches  had  gone  out,  would 
have  enraged  the  wounded  animal  so  much,  that  she 
would  certainly  have  attacked  us,  and  we  should  have 
been  either  killed,  or  so  dreadfully  crippled,  that  we 
must  have  perished  miserably  in  the  cave. 

At  about  a  hundred  paces  from  the  lair,  I  stopped  to 
listen  again,  but  could  hear  nothing.  I  now  called  to 
the  others  to  wait  for  me,  and  when  we  came  to  a  more 
roomy  place,  which  had  also  been  the  retreat  of  a  bear, 
•we  held  a  consultation.  Old  C.  thought  that  the  bear 
had  lain  down  by  her  dead  cubs,  and  that  one  of  us  had 
better  return  to  the  mouth  of  the  cave,  and  fetch  ano- 
ther rifle,  as  it  was  out  of  the  question  trying  to  pass 
the  furious  animal  to  get  at  mine.  However,  before  at- 
tempting the  long  and  difficult  way  back  to  the  entrance, 
I  resolved  to  creep  again  to  the  lair,  and  see  if  she  was 
not  dead,  for  I  could  not  but  think  that  my  ball  must 
have  had  some  effect.'  When  I  got  there  I  could  see 
nothing  of  her.  My  shout  brought  the  others  to  the 
spot ;  so,  advancing  a  little,  and  examining  closely,  we 
saw  thick  dark  blood,  and  found,  that  instead  of  return- 
ing to  her  lair,  she  had  taken  the  left-hand  passage.  I 
instantly  proceeded  to  regain  my  rifle,  which  I  found 
covered  with  blood  and  slime,  about  three  hundred 
yards  off.  I  returned  as  fast  as  I  possibly  could,  cleaned 
it,  and  reloaded,  when  we  all  started  again  for  a  fresh 
attack. 


VICTORY  AT  LAST.  165 

The  left-hand  passage  was  as  bad  as  £he  right,  but 
luckily  the  bear  had  not  gone  far.  We  soon  reached 
the  place  where,  grinding  her  teeth,  she  awaited  our  ap- 
proach. I  halted  about  eight  or  nine  feet  from  her, 
raised  myself  as  high  as  the  space  would  allow,  laid  the 
rifle  over  my  left  arm,  in  which  I  held  the  torch,  and 
seizing  the  time  when  her  head  was  quiet  for  an  instant, 
I  fired.  Again  the  cave  echoed  the  crack  of  the  rifle, 
and  all  was  enveloped  in  thick  smoke.  I  heard  the  bear 
groan  and  move,  but  stood  my  ground,  as  this  time  I 
knew  that  my  ball  had  struck  the  right  place  :  as  the 
smoke  cleared  away,  she  lay  dead  before  me. 

Young  Conwell  and  I  were  half  dead  from  our  exer- 
tions, and  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  us  to  get 
the  bear  out ; — for  the  time  "we  had  been  crawling  in  the 
close  air  of  the  cave  and  smoke  of  the  torches,  and  the 
long-continued  excitement  of  constant  danger,  were  al- 
most too  much  for  the  constitution  of  any  man ;  so  we 
decided  on  returning  to  the  fresh  air  as  fast  as  we  could. 
It  took  us  about  half  an  hour  to  do*  so,  and  I  shall  never 
forget  the  effect  of  the  delightfully  cool  night  air,  as  I 
drew  it  in  long  inspirations,  and  gazed  on  the  bright- 
blue  starry  skies. 

Young  Smith  and  the  schoolmaster  were  fast  asleep, 
but  as  the  dogs  barked  they  both  jumped  up,  and  almost 
fell  down  again  from  fright,  for  they  swore  that  they  had 
never  seen  such  horrible  figures  as  we  looked  in  the  red 
light  of  the  torches,  covered  with  blood  and  slime,  and 
blackened  with  smoke.  Judging  by  the  stars,  it  must 
have  been  about  two  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Although 
as  hungry  as  lions,  we  were  too  exhausted  to  touch  any 


106  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE   WEST. 

thing;  so  we  lay  down  and  slept  till  daybreak.  We 
made  a  good  breakfast,  and  then,  leaving  old  Conwell  be- 
hind, who  had  done  rather  too  much  for  his  time  of  life, 
we  Tour  again  entered  the  cave  to  bring  out  our  prizes. 
We  fastened  a  cord  round  the  old 'bear's  neck;  I  squeezed 
past,  and  shoved  from  behind,  while  Smith  and  the  school- 
master pulled,  and  young  Jim  Conwell  held  the  light. 
We  gained  ground  inch  by  inch,  and  about  noon,  amid  a 
general  hurrah,  we  cast  down  the  carcase  by  the  camp 
fire,  where  it  was  instantly  taken  possession  of  by  Bears- 
grease,  who  laid  himself  growling  by  its  side. 

As  we  had  some  way  to  go  home,  we  only  opened 
and  cleaned  her,  and  broke  the  spine,  so  that  the  carcase 
might  lay  better  across  a  horse.  We  reached  home  by 
the  evening ;  I  took  a  plunge  in  the  river,  and  then  set- 
tled down  to  sleep. 

We  rose  refreshed  the  next  morning  ready  for  further 
efforts,  and  concluded  to  try  some  caves  that  old  Conwell 
knew  of.  We  provided  ourselves  with  cords  and  food, 
and  made  two  large  wax  candles,  which  are  less  disagree- 
able in  a  close  cave  than  pine  torches,  give  a  better  light, 
and  are  not  so  liable  to  go  out.  We  arrived  at  the  place 
in  the  afternoon,  and  found  eight  or  nine  caves,  from  forty 
to  eighty  feet  deep,  but  all  empty.  We  now  separated  to 
try  different  paths,  and  agreed  that  as  soon  as  any  one 
found  a  trail,  he  was  to  make  a  signal  so  that  all  might 
join  in  the  chase. 

I  found  a  small  cave  with  fresh  marks,  but  no  bear. 
On  returning  to  the  mouth,  I  heard  the  dogs,  and  listen- 
ing attentively  for  a  minute  or  two,  I  felt  sure  they  were 
coming  towards  me.  Presently  the  noise  of  rushing 


SHOOTING   THE   BEAR. 


ANOTHER   BRUIN  IN   HIS   LAIR.  169 

through  breaking  branches  was  very  distinct,  and  at  last 
a  bear  broke  cover.  Throwing  himself  without  hesitation 
down  a  precipice  of  about  ten  feet,  he  came  towards  me 
as  fast  as  his  legs  would  carry  him.  I  stood  still  to  see 
how  near  he  would  come.  At  about  fifty  paces  distance 
he  winded  me,  stopped  short  in  his  career,  snuffed  the  air 
for  an  instant,  and  then  made  off  in  a  different  direction. 
I  seized  the  opportunity  offered,  and  sent  him  a  ball ; 
but  I  was  not  quite  cool  enough,  and  only  wounded  him  in 
the  hip.  Meantime,  the  dogs  having  been  stopped  by  the 
bluff  which  Bruin  had  so  unceremoniously  disposed  of,  he 
gained  a  good  space  in  advance ;  but  the  wound  checked 
his  speed,  and  I  could  soon  distinguish  by  the  dogs'  bark 
that  they  had  come  up  with  him  again,  but  they  were 
keeping  out  of  reach  of  his  paws.  A  young  man  named 
Erskine,  who  was  shooting  near  us,  attracted  by  the  re- 
port of  my  gun  and  the  barking  of  the  dogs,  came  up 
and  gave  the  mortal  wound.  The  two  Conwells  joined 
soon  after,  and  we  broke  him  up  together. 

Erskine  told  us  that  he  had  found  a  cave,  which  he 
was  sure  contained  a  bear,'  and  asked  one  of  us  to  go 
with  him  and  try  it,  as  he  had  neither  torches  or  wax 
candles.  I  was  ready  at  once,  took  one  of  the  candles, 
and  explaining  to  the  others  where  they  might  find  us, 
we  set  off,  and  reached  the  place  about  sunset.  We  first 
made  a  large  fire  before  the  entrance  of  the  cave,  and 
then  crept  into  it,  Erskine  preceding.  Further  on,  the 
passage  grew  larger,  so  that  we  could  walk  upright,  side 
by  side.  After  going  some  distance,  we  heard  the  regu- 
lar low  whine  of  the  bear,  who  was  sucking  his  paws,  and 
Erskine,  also  a  regular  bear-hunter,  asserted  that  he  was 


170  HUNTING  SPORTS   OF   THE  WEST. 

fast  asleep.  Passing  a  sharp  turn  in  the  cave,  we  dis- 
covered him  at  our  feet,  and,  as  my  comrade  had  stated, 
fast  asleep,  his  head  between  his  paws,  uttering  a  low 
monotonous  whine.  Erskine  set  the  muzzle  of  the  rifle 
to  the  back  of  his  head,  and  fired ;  he  gave  a  convulsive 
start,  and  lay  dead.  I  probed  the  wound  with  my  fore 
finger  to  see  how  far  the  ball  had  penetrated ;  the  rifle 
threw  a  ball  of  twenty- two  to  the  pound ;  the  skull  was 
completely  shattered. 

We  now  decided  on  getting  out  of  the  cave  for  a  little 
repose  and  refreshment,  and  to  await  the  Conwells.  We 
found  them  sitting  by  the  fire,  and  young  Conwell  offered 
at  once  to  take  the  cord  and  fasten  it  round  the  bear's 
neck,  and  try  and  pull  him  out  alone.  Lighting  one  of 
the  candles,  he  soon  disappeared  in  the  cave.  They  had 
examined  several  other  caves,  but  had  not  found  any 
more  signs.  Extraordinary  to  relate,  we  had  not  seen  a 
single  deer  during  the  course  of  our  hunt  ;x  the  forest 
seemed  deserted,  excepting  by  a  bear  or  two  in  the  caves, 
and  a  very  few  turkeys. 

We  had  rested  and  talked  ftfr  about  half  an  hour,  when 
young  Conwell  reappeared  without  the  bear,  having  found 
it  too  heavy,  and  requiring  help.  We  went,  one  and  all, 
taking  fresh  torches  with  us,  to  the  scene  of  action,  and 
dragged  him  out,  though  with  considerable  difficulty,  as 
many  parts  of  the  route  were  ill-adapted  for  the  trans- 
port of  such  a  mass  of  flesh.  Lying  down  by  the  fire, 
we  slept  comfortably  till  late  next  morning.  It  was  near 
noon  ere  we  could  tear  ourselves  away  from  our  couches 
of  soft  leaves,  but  as  we  all  agreed  that  we  must  move 
sooner  or  later,  we  got  up,  loaded  the  horses  with  our 


BACKWOODS   DEBATING   SOCIETY.  171 

prizes,  and  moved  off  towards  Conwell's  dwelling  in  as 
direct  a  line  as  the  nature  of  the  country  would  allow. 
We  kept  no  look-out  for  game  on  our  way  home,  having 
meat  enough,  and  being  almost  tired  to  death. 

We  received  a  hearty  welcome  from  Conwell's  family, 
and  we  resolved  to  enjoy  a  little  repose  after  all  our  hard 
work.  IE.  spite  of  the  bears  and  bats  that  I  encountered 
in  my  dreams,  I  awoke  quite  refreshed,  and  did  full  jus- 
tice to  the  beautiful  breakfast  of  bear-collops,  milk,  and 
maize  bread.  Perhaps  the  wild  out  door  life  which  we 
had  been  leading  may  have  lent  more  charms  to  the  quiet 
life  of  this  happy  home,  than  under  other  circumstances 
I  should  have  been  sensible  of;  but,  be  that  as  it  may,  I 
shall  never  forget  this  amiable  family.  Old  Conwell  and 
I  sat  the  whole  day  by  the  fireside,  mending  our  leggings 
and  moccasins.  He  was  certainly  the  last  man  in  the 
world  to  neglect  spinning  a  yarn  when  he  had  a  good  op- 
portunity, and  he  told  me  so  many  anecdotes,  and  related 
so  many  adventures,  that  the  day  passed  away  only  too 
soon. 

About  an  hour  before  sunset,  a  neighbor  came  in  to 
inquire  whether  we  would  go  with  him  to  the  debates. 
"  Debates  ! "  I  asked,  quite  astonished,  "what  does  that 
mean?"  He  seemed  still  more  astonished  at  my  ig- 
norance, and  explained  that,  on  every  Friday,  it  was  the 
custom  to  hold  a  meeting  at  the  school-house,  about  two 
miles  off,  to  debate  on  any  subject  which  might  be  pro- 
posed, and  in  which  the  scholars  took  part.  The  account 
excited  my  curiosity  still  more,  and  I  decided  on  no  ac- 
count to  miss  such  an  opportunity.  Old  Conwell  had 
frequented  these  meetings  too  often  to  be  induced  to 


172  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE  WEST. 

leave  his  comfortable  fireside ;  but  I  saddled  a  horse  aS 
once,  and  was  soon  at  the  school. 

Imagine  a  large  smoky  building  in  the  midst  of  a  forest, 
with  dark,  dusty  windows;  a  broad,  well-worn  door- 
stone  ;  a  heavy  iron-bound  door ;  and  rules  and  regula- 
tions pasted  here  and  there  in  the  room.  A  number  of 
horses,  fastened  to  the  surrounding  trees,  showed  that 
several  of  the  debaters  were  already  assembled.  A 
bright  fire  burned  in  the  chimney,  and  the  room  was 
nearly  full,  and  almost  everybody  was  talking.  At 
length  order  was  established,  and  the  company  proceeded 
to  the  business  of  the  evening.  Two  judges  and  two 
leaders  were  selected.  The  judges  took  their  places  in 
the  centre,  while  the  leaders  stationed  themselves  on  op- 
posite sides,  each  taking  it  in  turns  to  choose  a  follower 
from  the  persons  present.  The  question  to  be  decided 
was  this  :  "  In  a  thickly  inhabited  district,  where  much 
cattle  was  reared,  there  was  only  one  parish  bull.  The 
district  was  on  the  bank  of  a  broad  river,  and  the  inhabi- 
tants were  obliged  to  cross  it  very  often,  as  all  the  mills 
and  tanneries  were  on  the  other  side — but  there  was  only 
one  ferry-boat,  passed  to  and  fro  by  a  single  rope.  The 
bull  got  down  to  the  ferry,  and  on  board  the  boat,  and 
gnawed  the  rope  in  two ;  the  boat  floated  down  the  river 
with  the  bull,  and  boat  and  bull  were  never  seen  again." 
These  were  the  facts,  now  comes  the  question,  ^  Who  is 
to  pay  the  damage  for  the  loss  ?  The  owner  of  the  boat 
for  carrying  off  the  bull,  or  the  owner  of  the  bull,  because, 
from  some  malicious  though  undiscovered  intention,  he 
stole  the  boat?" 

It, was  highly  amusing  to  see  one  after  another  stand 


KNOTTY   POINTS   OP   DEBATE.  173 

y«p,  and  seriously  defend  the  cause  of  the  bull,  or  the 
boat;  others  again  talked  all  sorts  of  nonsense  for  a 
quarter  of  an  hour,  and  then  sat  down  with  the  remark 
that  it  was  unnecessary  to  say  more,  as  the  case  was  so 
clear  that  the  judges  could  not  do  otherwise  than  give  a 
decision  in  their  favor.  After  all  had  been  heard,  my- 
self included,  the  judges  consulted  together,  and  the 
owner  of  the  bull  was  condemned  to  pay  the  expenses. 
The  next  question  was :  "  Which  is  better,  a  single  or  a 
married  life?"  The  judges  were  not  quite  impartially 
chosen.  The  wife  of  one  had  run  off  with  a  young  man 
to  Texas,  three  years  ago ;  the  wife  of  the  other  had 
three  times  borne  twins.  I  was  chosen  on  the  married 
side  with  the  schoolmaster,  three  or  four  other  young 
men,  and  six  or  seven  of  the  scholars.  We  defended  our 
cause  with  glowing  animation — but  one  judge  thought  of 
Texas,  and  the  other  of  the  twins,  and  our  scale  kicked 
the  beam.  Several  other  questions  were  discussed ; 
among  them,  "  Which  is  worse,  a  smoky  chimney  or  a 
scolding  wife  ?  "  Left  undecided.  At  last  I  was  invited 
to  propose  a  subject,  but  I  would  not  consent  until  I  re- 
ceived assurance  that  it  should  be  discussed :  "Which 
enjoys  life  most,  has  fewer  cares,  and  lighter  sorrows — a 
short  or  a  long-tailed  dog?"  But  by  this  time  it  was 
late,  and  time  to  adjourn ;  so  the  house  was  soon  left  to 
its  solitude  in  the  forest,  and  the  party  dispersed  in  all 
directions  to  their  dwellings. 

On  the  morning  of  the  22nd.  January,  old  Conwell 
and  I  shouldered  our  rifles,  and  each  provided  with 
meat  and  bread,  we  wandered  towards  the  waters  of  the 
Richland.  Lucky  was  it  that  we  took  provisions,  for 


174  HUNTING  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

not  a  shot  did  we  fire.  Next  day  was  almost  as  bad, 
and  if  Conwell  had  not  knocked  over  a  turkey,  we  should 
have  been  reduced  to  chew  sassafras.  At  length  on  the 
third  day,  he  shot  a  deer,  and  I  a  turkey,  which  put  a 
little  life  into  the  dogs.  Disgusted  with  our  bad  luck, 
we  decided  on  returning  home  next  day,  besides,  the 
weather  was  bad,  and  threatened  to  be  worse.  To  our 
inexpressible  joy,  snow  fell  during  the  night,  and  all 
thoughts  of  return  vanished.  We  took  different  direc- 
tions, with  the  agreement  to  return  to  camp  in  the 
evening.  I  had  not  gone  far.  when  I  saw  footsteps  of  a 
young  buck  in  the  four-inch  deep  snow,  followed  him  up 
and  shot  him.  I  heard  the  report  of  Conwell's  rifle 
about  the  same  time.  Hanging  up  the  deer,  I  walked 
on.  After  lounging  along  slowly  for  above  -  an  hour, 
without  seeing  anything,  I  came  across  the  track  of 
Conwell,  who,  with  his  dog,  had  been  following  up  the 
bloody  trail  of  a  panther ;  I  gathered  from  the  signs 
that  he  had  broken  his  left  hind  leg.  I  followed  it  up 
on  the  instant,  as  fast  as  my  legs  could  carry  nre; 
in  rather  more  than  an  hour,  I  arrived  at  the  mouth  of 
a  cave,  where  Conwell  was  awaiting  me,  knowing  that  I 
should  cross  his  trail,  and  follow  it  up  as  soon  as  I  saw 
the  marks  of  the  panther. 

The  wounded  brute  had  taken  refuge  in  the  cave, 
leaving  us  to  act  as  we  pleased,  probably  thinking  him- 
self quite  safe.  We  held  a  short  consultation — Conwell 
said  that  he  had  hidden  a  bundle  of  kindlers  in  a  hole, 
and  that  if  I  would  keep  watch  here,  he  would  go  and 
fetch  them.  I  consented,  of  course,  and  laid  myself 
down  before  the  cave,  with  bare  knife  and  cocked  rifle. 


A  PANTHER    IN  A  CAVE.  175 

Lying  in  the  snow,  however,  was  anything  but  agreeable ; 
at  first,  when  I  was  warm  with  running,  I  thought  no- 
thing of  it,  but  by  degrees  I  became  colder  and  colder, 
till  my  teeth  chattered.  I  could  not  venture  to  lay 
aside  the  rifle  to  make  a  fire,  for  fear  the  panther 
should  escape.  I  managed  to  keep  up  a  little  warmth, 
by  running  and  jumping,  but  was  very  glad  when  my 
old  friend  returned  and  made  a  good  fire. 

As  soon  as  we  were  well  warmed,  we  made  torches, 
and  entered  the  cave  as  cautiously  as  possible,  each  with 
a  burning  torch  in  his  left  hand,  and  a  rifle  in  the  right. 
I  went  first,  but  the  cave  was  soon  roomy  enough  to 
admit  c^f  our  walking  upright,  beside  each  other.  Some 
distance  in,  it  took  a  turn  to  the  left,  and  about  two 
hundred  paces  in  advance,  wo  saw  the  fiery  eyeballs  of 
the  beast,  who  kept  shutting  them  from  time  to  time. 
Conwell,  taking  my  torch,  stepped  behind  me,  while  I 
took  aim  and  fired.  We  heard  a  noise  after  the  shot, 
but  could  not  make  out  the  result ;  I  reloaded  as  fast  as 
possible,  while  Conwell  went  in  advance,  but  we  could 
see  nothing  more  of  the  animal's  eyes.  We  went  on 
with  cocked  rifles  on  our  left  arm.  Moving  silently  and 
cautiously  forward,  we  suddenly  discovered  the  panther 
in  a  little  hollow  close  to  our  feet,  a  beautiful  but  alarm- 
ing sight,  his  ears  laid  back,  his  teeth  gnashing  in  wild 
rage,  and  his  glowing  eyes  so  wide  open,  that  they 
seemed  half  out  of  their  sockets.  Inspired  by  one  im- 
pulse, we  both  fired  so  exactly  together,  that  neither 
knew  that  the  other  had  done  so.  Our  eneiry  was  hit, 
but  whether  mortally  or  not  was  more  than  we  could 
tell.  Dropping  our  rifles  like  lightning,  we  drew  cur 


176  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

knives ;  a  sore  need  we  had  of  them,  for  before  the  sound 
of  the  rifles  expired,  we  felt  the  weight  of  the  panther 
upon  us.  I  drove  my  knife  into  him,  and  sprang  back ; 
our  torches  were  extinguished ;  it  all  passed  so  quickly, 
that  I  did  not  recover  full  possession  of  my  senses,  till  I 
stood  beside  my  old  friend,  in  the  fresh  air,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  cave.  I  can  only  remember  that,  in  the  impene- 
trable darkness  and  thick  smoke,  I  did  not  know  which 
way  to  turn,  and  that  Conwell  dragged  me  out.  When 
we  came  into  the  light  of  day,  we  found  ourselves  co- 
vered with  sweat  and  blood,  and  our  clothes  all  torn. 

Conwell  complained  of  pain  in  the  breast.  Tearing 
open  his  shirt,  we  found  two  deep  gashes  from  the  left 
shoulder  to  the  pit  of  the  stomach ;  I  had  escaped  with 
only  a  few  scratches.  We  had  neither  of  us  felt  when 
we  were  wounded;  but  before  we  troubled  ourselves 
about  it,  we  made  a  fire  in  the  mouth  of  the  cave  to  pre- 
vent the  panther  from  coming  out;  then  washed  and 
bound  up  our  wounds,  and  sat  by  the  fire  to  consider 
what  was  next  to  be  done.  There  was  the  panther  in 
the  cave,  whether  alive  or  dead  we  knew  not.  At  any 
rate  he  was  badly  wounded,  for  both  our  knives,  with 
blades  nine  inches  long,  were  bloody  to  the  hilt.  But 
indeed  we  had  no  choice ;  our  rifles,  and  Conwell's  ball- 
pouch,  which  the  brute  had  torn  away,  were  still  in  the 
cave. 

It  might,  perhaps,  have  been  possible  to  suffocate  the 
panther  with  smoke,  but  there  might  have  been  another 
opening,  and  then  we  should  have  had  our .  trouble  for 
nothing.  We  soon  made  up  our  minds,  and  entered  the 
3ave  again  with  fresh  torches  and  bare  knives,  but  not 


WATCHFIRE   AND   WOUNDS.  177 

•without  beating  hearts.  We  moved  silently  and  cau- 
tiously on,  holding  the  torches  well  before  us,  so  as  not 
to  be  so  agreeably  surprised  a  second  tune.  We  reco- 
vered our  rifles  without  seeing  the  enemy.  I  held  both 
the  torches  while  Conwell  loaded  his  rifle,  and  then  gave 
them  to  him  while  I  loaded  mine,  and  having  our  faith- 
ful weapons  once  more  in  our  hands,  we  stepped  forward 
again  still  slowly  and  silently,  but  with  lighter  hearts. 
"  There !"  suddenly  called  out  C.,  holding  his  torch 
aloft,  and  staring  before  him.  It  was  the  first  word 
spoken  since  we  re-entered  the  cave.  The  panther  lay 
stretched  on  the  ground,  no  longer  dangerous,  for  the 
last  convulsions  were  over.  We  skinned  him  and  cut 
him  up ;  all  the  balls  had  taken  effect,  and  both  our 
knives  had  pierced  his  body,  so  that  it  was  only  in  his 
death-struggle  that  he  sprang  upon  us.  We  took  the 
skin,  although  it  almost  looked  like  a  sieve,  and  returned 
to  our  fire. 

It  was  night  by  the  time  we  came  out  of  the  cave, 
and,  with  hungry  stomachs,  lay  all  four  by  the  fire ;  for 
neither  we  nor  the  dogs  had  any  fancy  to  eat  the  panther. 
Conwell  suffered  very  much  from  his  wound,  but  towards 
morning  he  fell  into  a  tolerably  quiet  sleop.  We  moved 
off  with  the  first  gleam  of  day  to  the 'place  where  I  had 
hung  up  the  buck,  breakfasted  there,  and  started  for 
fresh  game. 

Meantime  it  had  become  warmer.  The  snow  had  dis- 
appeared, but  all  the  game  seemed  to  have  gone  on  their 
travels ;  for  although  we  saw  signs  enough,  not  a  shot 
could  we  get.  In  the  night  we  were  awakened  by  a  thin 
cold  rain,  and  having  no  mind  to  get  wet  through,  we 


178  HUNTING  SPORTS   OP  THE  WEST. 

jumped  up,  cut  poles  with  our  heavy  knives,  and  spread- 
ing my  blanket,  which  was  the  largest,  over  them,  and 
laying  ourselves  on  the  other,  underneath  it,  after  making 
up  the  fire  afresh,  that  the  rain  might  not  put  it  out,  we 
were  soon  fast  asleep. 

Next  morning  brought  fresh  troubles,  but  no  reward. 
Dispirited,  we  wandered  the  whole  day  through  the  wet 
forest, .  without  seeing  a  turkey.  The  meat  we  had 
brought  with  us  was  getting  low,  as  we  had-  not  been  very 
saving  of  it,  and  had  given  the  larger  share  to  the  dogs ; 
after  breakfast  there  was  one  small  piece  left  for  each  to 
share  with  his  dog  at  night ;  still  hoping,  we  walked  on 
cautiously  and  attentively  till  late  at  night,  without  see- 
ing even  so  much  as  a  vulture. 

On  the  morning  of  the  29th  of  January,  we  sat  by  the 
fire  with  empty  stomachs,  and  stared  sorrowfully  at  the 
crackling  flames.  At  length.  Conwell  burst  out  with  a 
loud  laugh,  and  asked  whether  we  were  forced  to  remain 
in  this  deserted  spot,  and  why  we  should  not  go  home. 
But  I  would  not  give  it  up  yet ;  to  go  home  with  noth- 
ing but  a  panther's  skin  full  of  holes  was  too  bad,,  and 
I  begged  for  one  more  day ;  at  any  rate,  if  we  found  no- 
thing before  twelve  o'clock,  we  could  then  meet  at  the 
camp  and  return  home.  In  silence,  and  on  the  watch 
for  the  merest  trifles,  I  wandered  with  Bearsgrease 
through  all  the  places  where  hitherto  I  had  almost  al- 
ways found  game,  without  meeting  a  sign ;  and  my  hun- 
ger was  quite  painful.  How  I  thought  of  shooting  parties 
at  home,  where  one  was  sure  of  finding  some  sort  of  a 
house  every  half  hour ;  here,  was  only  thick  forest,  where 
one  wet  dripping  tree  looked  exactly  like  another..  And 


OFF  AGAIN  AFTER  GAME.  179 

yet  it  was  not  without  its  charms.  For  instance,  every 
now  and  then  you  were  entangled  by  the  thorns  of  the 
black  locust,  or  if  your  slippery  moccasins  caused  you 
to  fall,  you  might  be  sure  of  finding  some  of  them  con- 
veniently placed  to  receive  you. 

I  returned  to  the  camp  about  noon,  exhausted  and  dis- 
pirited, and  found  my  old  comrade  stretched  quietly  by 
the  fire.  He  said  he  had  been  waiting  for  me  about  a 
couple  of  hours ;  that  it  was  very  clear  there  was  no 
game  to  shoot ;  and  I  was  now  of  the  same  opinion. 
Heartily  sick  of  the  useless  fatigue,  we  shouldered  the 
skin  and  our  blankets,  and  left  the  place  with  heavy 
hearts  and  weary  limbs. 

It  was  long  after  dark  when  we  arrived  at  Conwell's 
home,  and  received  the  usual  kind  welcome,  and  we  were 
heartily  laughed  at,  when,  instead  of  bringing  provisions, 
we  fell,  like  famished  wolves,  upon  every  thing  eatable 
that  came  in  our  way.  A  long  draught  of  fresh  milk 
did  me,  above  every  thing  else,  an  immensity  of  good. 

I  would  willingly  have  enjoyed  a  day's  rest ;  but  Con- 
well — who,  in  spite  of  his  deep  gashes,  which  were  not 
yet  healed,  was  as  fresh  arid  strong  as  ever  a^ter  his  first 
meal,  and  could  not  remain  quiet  under  the  circum- 
stances— impressed  on  me  the  necessity  of  trying  again, 
otherwise  people  would  believe  that  we  had  lost  the  power 
of  shooting  a  deer.  So  we  were  off  again  before  noon, 
gained  the  source  of  the  Hurricane,  rode  across  the 
"  Devil's  Stepping  Path,"  a  narrow  rock  with  a  precipice 
on  each  side,  left  the  Pilot-rock  on  our  left,  and  came 
towards  evening  into  the  pine  forests,  where  we  were  sure 
of  finding  kindlers.  Descending  the  steep  side  of  a 


180  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

mountain,  we  observed  a  column  of  thin  blue  smoke  by 
the  side  of  a  stream,  showing  that  some  hunters  were  en- 
camped there.  We  went  straight  towards  it,  and  found 
it  to  be  an  Indian  camp,  and  our  former  acquaintance, 
young  Erskine,  among  them.  They  were  Cherokees 
with  three  young  Choctaws,  these  two  tribes  being  on 
good  terms.  Like  ourselves,  they  were  out  bear-hunting, 
but  had  had  better  luck.  A  quantity  'of  bear  meat  was 
hanging  about  the  camp,  and  even  the  dogs  could  eat  no 
more.  Casting  ourselves  down  by  the  fire,  one  of  the 
squaws — for  there  were  several  women  in  the  camp — im- 
mediately cooked  some  bear  for  us,  with  which  we  duly 
regaled  ourselves. 

Night  came  on,  and  soon  all  were  sunk  in  deep  repose. 
[  was  not  inclined  to  sleep,  and  Bearsgrease,  who  had 
tired  himself  with  chasing  a  gang  of  turkeys,  which 
escaped  at  last  by  flying  across  a  ravine,  lay  close  to 
me,  with  his  head  on  my  left  arm.  Soon  he  began  to 
dream,  scrambling  with  his  feet  as  if  running,  and  bark- 
ing in  a  low  voice.  Watching  him  brought  to  my  mind 
a  story  which  was  told  me  by  an  old  bear-killer,  to  the 
effect,  that  if  a  man  lays  his  pocket-handkerchief  over 
the  head  of  a  dreaming  dog,  letting  it  stay  till  the  dream 
is  out,  then  lays  it  under  his  own  head,  and  falls  asleep, 
he  will  have  the  same  dream  that  the  dog  had.  A  poc- 
ket-handkerchief was  a  luxury  I  had  dispensed  with,  but 
I  laid  my  Scotch  cap  on  my  clog's  head,  under  which  he 
went  on  dreaming,  and  when  he  awoke  I  laid  it  under  my 
own  head,  and  was  soon  asleep.  It  was  perhaps  owing  to 
the  idea  under  which  I  fell  asleep,  although  in  general  I 
can  never  dream  what  I  wish,  but,  be  that  as  it  may,  I 


HUNTING  WITH  THE   INDIANS — SKELETONS.       181 

soon  found  myself  running  desperately  after  turkeys,  and 
never  stopped,  till  I  had  chased  them  into  a  tree,  when  I 
stood  looking  up  at  them  without  thinking  of  shooting. 
Just  then  my  dog  gave  &  loud  bark,  and  I  jumped  up. 
One  of  the  Indians  had  risen  to  look  to  the  fire,  and 
Bearsgrease  thought  it  rather  suspicious.  My  beautiful 
dream  was  gone,  and  I  could  no  longer  recollect  whether 
I  barked  or  not.  I  fell  asleep  again,  but  the  dream  never 
returned. 

Early  in  the  morning  we  began  to  move,  dividing  into 
two  parties,  for  the  better  chance  of  finding  game. 
Conwell  went  with  some  of  the  Indians,  amongst  whom 
he  had  found  an  old  acquaintance,  to  make  a  circuit 
round  the  Pilot-rock,  while  Erskine  and  I,  with  three 
Cherokees  proceeded  to  the  sources  of  the  Frog  bayou. 

About  ten  o'clock  we  came  to  a  cave,  which  seemed 
worth  examining.  We  made  torches,  there  being  plenty 
of  strips  of  pine  lying  about ;  it  was  settled  that  I  should 
try  my  luck,  with  one  of  the  Indians.  Erskine  re- 
mained with  the  two  others  by  the  fire,  saying  he  had 
searched  so  many  caves  within  the  last  four  days  with- 
out finding  anything,  that  he  was  tired  of  it.  The  en- 
trance was  ra.ther  small,  but  it  became  gradually  larger, 
and  we  went  a  long  way  in.  There  were  evidences  of 
its  having  been  tried  before,  as  we  found  moccasin 
marks,  and  pieces  of  burnt  wood.  An  unexpected 
sight  suddenly  arrested  our  progress — the  skeletons  of  a 
man  and  of  a  bear,  lying  peaceably  within  three  feet  of 
each  other.  A  rifle  thickly  covered  with  rust,  and  a 
corroded  knife,  lay  by  the  side  of  the  first,  and  some 
glass  beads  convinced  us  that  it  was  the  skeleton  of  an 


182  HUNTING   SPOUTS    OF  THE   WEST. 

Indian,  who  had  bravely  attacked  the  bear  single 
handed,  and  had  fallen  in  the  struggle,  the  skeleton  of 
the  bear  proving  that  he  had  sold  his  life  dearly. 

The  skeleton  was  perfect,  except  some  of  the  small 
bones  which  rats  or  snakes  might  have  carried  off, 
The  Indian  pointed  in  silence  to  the  upper  bone  of  the 
right  arm,  which  was  broken,  and  the  knife  was  lying 
on  the  left  side. 

The  sight  of  these  remains  of  a  human  being,  which 
may  have  lain  there  for  years,  while  his  footsteps  were 
still  so  fresh  in  the  moist  earth,  was  deeply  affecting. 
As  I  was  about  to  pass  on,  the  Indian  laid  his  hand  on 
my  arm,  and  shook  his  head,  saying,  in  broken  English, 
"  The  spirit  of  the  red  man  is  in  the  cave,  and  Wachiga 
goes  no  further."  Nothing  could  induce  him  to  go  on, 
all  my  persuasions  were  fruitless ;  pointing  to  the  bones, 
he  said,  "  The  bones  of  the  red  man  belonged  to  a  great 
chief;  the  bear  seeks  no  bed  where  the  hunter  sleeps." 
As  this  last  remark  seems  well  founded,  and  as  the  sight 
had  shaken  me  too  much  for  me  to  go  alone,  we  turned 
back  without  touching  the  remains. 

We  found  Erskine  alone,  and  told  him  what  we  had 
seen,  but  he  did  not  seem  at  all  inclined  to  visit  the  re- 
mains. We  found  three  other  caves,  but  no  bear :  Ers 
kine  and  the  Indians  tried  the  two  first,  Erskine  and  I 
the  last.  The  cave  separated  into  two  passages ;  Ers- 
kine took  the  right,  I  the  left,  and  as  I  proceeded  I 
found  plenty  of  marks.  The  cave  was  so  small  that  I 
was  obliged  to  leave  everything  but  a  torch  and  my 
knife ;  I  could  not  even  turn  myself  from  one  side  to 
the  other,  to  change  my  attitude.  I  had  taken  off  my 


NARROW    QUARTERS — WACHIGA.  183 

hunting-shirt,  and  had  on  nothing  hut  a  cotton  shirt  and 
leggings,  and  was  working  on  inch  by  inch,  with  tolera- 
ble certainty  of  finding  a  hear.  The  passage  was  quite 
round,  and  in  many  places  as  smooth  as  glass,  from 
being  rubbed  by  wild  beasts.  In  one  place  I  found  the 
skin  of  a  rattlesnake. 

At  length  I  got  so  completely  jammed  in,  that  I  could 
neither  move  backwards  nor  forwards.  The  perspira- 
tion burst  from  every  pore,  and  for  a  minute  or  two  I 
lay  motionless.  Then  I  again  exerted  all  my  efforts  to 
force  myself  backwards,  and  to  my  indescribable  satis- 
faction, at  length  succeeded,  leaving,  however,  the 
greater  part  of  my  shirt  behind  me,  and  my  delight  may 
be  imagined  when  I  again  inhaled  the  fresh  air.  .My 
hair  stood  on  end  at  the  fearful  thought  of  sticking  fast 
in  such  a  hole,  buried  alive,  and  dying  of  hunger. 

Night  found  us  far  from  our  camp,  so  we  made  one 
for  ourselves  where  we  were.  Wachiga,  who  had  become 
very  pensive,  sat  smoking  his  tomahawk  and  staring  at 
the  fire.  Notwithstanding  that  he  had  been  converted 
to  Christianity,  he  had  still  some  remains  of  the  old  su- 
perstition. Erskine  was  in  high  good  humor,  and  told 
one  droll  story  after  another. 

On  the  next  morning,  February  1st,  we  had  hardly 
started  ere  we  heard  the  dogs.  Wachiga  declared  in- 
stantly that  they  were  his  brother's,  and  disappeared  be- 
hind the  rocks  without  another  word.  As  we  stood 
listening,  the  sound  seemed  to  take  a  different  direction ; 
we  ascended  the  mountain  as  fast  as  we  could,  to  cut 
off'  the  chase,  but  found  that  we  must  have  been  mis- 
taken, for  in  a  few  minutes  all  was  silent  as  the  grave ; 


184  HUNTING   SPORTS   OP  THE  WEST. 

once  we  thought  we  heard  a  shot,  but  could  not  be  cer- 
tain. We  ascended  to  the  highest  terrace  and  walked 
slowly  on,  looking  out  for  fresh  signs,  and  listening  to 
catch  the  sound  of  the  dogs ;  below,  amongst  the  broken 
masses  of  rock,  they  might  be  near  without  being  heard, 
while  on  the  mountain  tops,  they  are  audible  at  a  great 
distance. 

It  may  have  been  about  two  in  the  afternoon,  and  we 
had  hitherto  seen  nothing,  when  Bearsgrease  raised  his 
nose  in  the  air,  remained  for  an  instant  or  two  in  a  fixed 
position,  then  giving  a  short  smothered  howl,  dashed 
down  the  mountain  side.  Listening  attentively,  we 
heard  the  chase  coming  down  the  Hurricane  river. 
Erskine  called  out  triumphantly,  "  We  shall  have  plenty 
of  bear  this  evening/'  and  dashed  after  the  dog.  I  was 
soon  by  his  side.  I  must  observe  by  the  way,  that  we 
were  both  very  hungry.  Presently  a  bear  broke  through 
the  bushes ;  a  projecting  rock  stopped  him  for  an  in- 
stant, when  Erskine  saluted  him  with  a  ball :  he  received 
mine  as  he  rushed  past,  and  disappeared.  The  dogs, 
encouraged  to  greater  efforts  by  our  shots  and  the  stronger 
scent,  followed  him  out ;  Bearsgrease,  who  was  quite  fresh, 
leading. the  van.  They  soon  came  up  with  him  and  stopped 
him.  We  rushed  to  the  spot  without  waiting  to  reload, 
and  arrived  in  time  to  see  the  beast,  excited  to  the  greatest 
fury,  kill  four  of  our  best  dogs  with  as  many  blows  of 
his  paws ;  but  the  others  only  -threw  themselves  on  him 
with  the  greater  animosity,  and  if  our  rifles  had  been 
loaded,  we  could  not  haye  used  them.  Just  as  a  large 
powerful  brown  dog,  which  had  furiously  attacked  the 
bear,  was  knocked  over  bleeding  and  howling,  Erskine 


CfcUR   FATAL  TEMERITY— ERSKINE'S   DEATH.       187 

called  out,  "Oh,  save  the  dogs,"  threw  down  his  rifle, 
and  rushed  on  with  his  knife  among  the  furious  group  ; 
I  followed  on  the  instant.  When  the  bear  saw  us  com- 
ing, he  exerted  still  more  force  to  beat  off  the  dogs,  and 
meet  us.  Seizing  his  opportunity,  my  comrade  ran  his 
steel  into  his  side.  The  bear  turned  on  him  like  light- 
ning, and  seized  him ;  he  uttered  a  shrill  piercing  shriek. 
Driven  to  desperation  by  the  sight,  I  plunged  my  knife 
three  times  into  the  monster's  body  with  all  my  force, 
without  thinking  of  jumping  back  ;  at  the  third  thrust, 
the  bear  turned  upon  me.  Seeing  his  paw  coming,  I 
attempted  to  evade  the  blow,  felt  a  sharp  pang,  and 
sunk  senseless  to  the  ground. 

When  I  recovered  my  senses,  Bearsgrease  was  licking 
the  blood  from  my  face.  On  attempting  to  rise,  I  felt  a 
severe  pain  in  my  left  side,  and  was  unable  to  move  my 
left  arm.  On  making  a  fresh  effort  to  rise,  I  succeeded 
in  sitting  up.  The  bear  was  close  to  me,  and — less  than 
three  feet  from  him  lay  Erskine,  stiff  and  cold.  I  sprang 
up  with  a  cry  of  horror,  and  rushed  towards  him.  It  was 
too  true ;  he  was  bathed  in  blood,  his  face  torn  to  pieces, 
his  right  shoulder  almost  wrenched  away  from  his  body, 
and  five  of  the  best  dogs  ripped  up  and  with  broken  limbs 
lying  beside  him.  The  bear  was  so  covered  with  blood 
that  his  color  was  hardly  discernible.  My  left  arm  ap- 
peared to  be  out  of  the  socket,  but  I  could  feel  that  no 
bones  were  broken. 

The  sun  had  gone  down,  and  I  had  hoped  that  the 
other  hunters  might  have  heard  our  shots  and  the  bark- 
ing and  howling  of  the  dogs.  It  grew  dark.  No  one 
came.  I  roared  and  shouted  like  mad ;  no  one  heard 


188  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE   WEST. 

me.  I  tried  to  light  a  fire,  but  my  left  arm  was  so 
swelled  that  I  gave  up  the  attempt.  But  as  it  would  have 
been  certain  death  to  pass  the  night  under  these  circum- 
stances without  a  fire,  I  tore  away  part  of  the  back  of 
my  hunting  shirt,  the  fore  part  being  saturated  with 
blood,  sprinkled  some  powder  on  it,  rubbed  it  well  in,  all 
with  my  right  hand,  shook  a  little  powder  into  my  rifle, 
and  placing  the  muzzle  on  the  rag,  I  fired,  when  it  began 
to  burn  immediately.  Blowing  it  up  to  a  flame,  I  piled 
on  dry  leaves,  twigs,  &c.,  and  succeeded  in  making  a 
good  fire,  though  with  great  pain  and  trouble.  It  was 
now  dark.  I  went  to  my  dead  comrade,  who  was  lying 
about  five  yards  from  the  fire.  He  was  already  stiff,  and 
it  was  with  great  difficulty  that  I  could  pull  down  his 
arms  and  lay  him  straight ;  nor  could  I  keep  his  eyes 
closed,  though  I  laid  small  stones  on  him. 

The  dogs  were  very  hungry,  but  as  it  was  impossible 
for  me  to  break  up  the  bear,  I  only  ripped  him  up,  and 
fed  them  with  his  entrails.  Bearsgrease  laid  himself 
down  by  the  corpse,  looking  steadfastly  in  its  face,  and 
went  no  more  near  the  bear.  In  the  hope  of  obtaining 
help,  I  loaded  and  fired  twice,  but  nothing  moved :  the 
forest  appeared  one  enormous  grave. 

I  felt  very  ill,  vomited  several  times,  and  my  shoulder 
was  excessively  painful.  Winding  my  blanket  round  me 
as  well  as  I  could,  I  laid  myself  down  beside  the  fire,  and 
lost  all  consciousness  of  my  wretched  situation  ;  whether 
I  slept  or  fainted  is  more  than  I  can  tell,  but  I  know  that 
I  dreamed  I  was  at  home,  in  bed,  and  my  mother  brought 
me  some  tea  and  laid  her  hand  on  my  breast ;  I  heard 
the  children  in  the  street  making  a  noise,  and  saw  the 


A  TERRIBLE  NIGHT.  189 

snow  on  the  roofs  of  the  houses,  and  thought  it  must  be 
very  cold  out  of  doors. 

Such  an  awakening  as  I  had  was  worse  than  I  could 
wish  to  my  bitterest  enemy.  Bearsgrease  had  pressed 
close  to  my  side,  laying  his  head  on  my  breast ;  the  fire 
was  almost  out,  I  was  shivering  with  cold,  and  the  wolves 
were  howling  fearfully  around  the  dead,  keeping  at  a  dis- 
tance for  fear  of  the  living,  but  by  no  means  disposed  to 
lose  theii  prey.  I  rose  with  difficulty,  and  laid  more 
wood  on  the  fire.  As  it  burnt  up,  the  face  of  the  corpse 
seemed  to  brighten.  I  started,  but  found  it  was  only  an 
optical  delusion.  Louder  and  fiercer  howled  the  wolves, 
and  the  dogs,  of  whom  five  were  alive  besides  Bears- 
grease,  answered  them  ;  but  the  answer  was  by  no  means 
one  of  defiance — rather  a  lament  for  the  dead.  Partly 
to  scare  away  the  wolves,  partly  in  the  hope  of  finding 
help,  I  loaded  and  fired  three  times  ;  my  delight  was  in- 
expressible as  I  heard  three  shots  in  return.  I  loaded  and 
fired  till  all  my  powder  was  expended.  As  morning 
broke,  I  shot  two  shots  not  far  off,  and  soon  after,  a 
third.  A  shipwrecked  mariner,  hanging  on  to  a  single 
plank,  could  not  raise  his  voice  more  lustily  to  hail  a 
passing  ship,  than  I  did  then — and,  jo}-  upon  joy,  I  heard 
a  human  voice  in  answer.  The  bark  of  the  dogs  an- 
nounced a  stranger,  and  Wachiga  advanced  out  of  the 
bush.  "  Wah  !  "  he  exclaimed,  starting  at  the  shocking 
spectacle.  He  felt  poor  Erskine,  and  shook  his  head 
mournfully.  He  then  turned  to  me.  I  showed  him  my 
swollen  arm,  which  he  examined  attentively,  without 
speaking.  Forming  a  hollow  with  his  two  hands,  and 
placing  them  to  his  lips,  he  gave  a  loud  piercing  shout. 


190  HUNTING  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

The  answer  came  from  no  great  distance,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  my  dear  old  Conwell,  and  most  of  the  Indians, 
were  at  my  side.  I  grasped  Conwell's  hand  sorrowfully, 
and  told  him  in  few  words  how  it  had  all  happened.  The 
old  man  scolded,  and  said  it  served  us  right ;  there  was 
no  grqat  danger  in  sticking  a.  knife  into  a  bear's  paunch, 
when  he  is  falling,  with  the  dogs  upon  him,  but  if  he  has 
been  thrown,  and  then  catches  sight  of  his  greatest  enemy, 
man,  he  exerts  all  his  force  to  attack  him^-and  woe  to  him 
who  comes  within  reach  of  his  paws.  It  was  all  very 
well  talking ;  he  had  not  been  present,  and  seen  one  dog 
after  another  knocked  over  never  to  rise  again;  five 
minutes  more,  and  not  one  would  have  been  saved,  and 
who  knows  whether  the  enraged  beast  would  not  have 
attacked  us,  then. 

Meantime,  the  Indians  had  been  digging  a  grave  with 
their  tomahawks.  Wrapping  the  body  in  a  blanket,  they 
laid  him  in  it,  and  covered  him  with  earth  and  heavy 
stones.  Conwell  cut  down  some  young  stems,  and  made 
a  fence  round  the  solitary  grave.  I  could  not  avoid  a 
shudder  at  the  quiet  coolness  of  the  whole  proceeding,  as 
the  thought  struck  me,  that  the  same  persons,  under  the 
same  circumstances,  would  have  treated  me  in  the  same 
cool  way,  had  I  fallen  instead  of  Erskine.  Like  me,  he 
was  a  lonely  stranger  in  a  foreign  land,  having  left  Eng- 
land some  years  before,  and  his  friends  and  relations 
will  probably  never  know  what  has  become  of  him. 
Thousands  perish  in  this  way  in  America,  of  whom  no- 
thing more  is  heard,  and  perhaps  in  a  few  months  the 
remembrance  of  them  has  entirely  passed  away. 

After  the  dead  was  quietly  laid  in  the  grave,  Wachiga 


A   PRIMITIVE   OPERATION.  191 

came  with  an  elderly  Indian  to  look  at  my  arm.  Wachiga 
moved  it,  while  the  other  looked  steadfastly  in  my  face : 
the  pain  was  enough  to  drive  me  mad,  but  I  would  not 
utter  a  sound.  Next  the  old  Indian  took  hold  of  my 
arm,  laying  his  left  hand  on  my  shoulder,  and  while 
Wachiga  suddenly  seized  me  round  the  body  from  behind, 
the  other  pulled  with  all  his  force.  The  pain  at  first  was 
so  great  that  I  almost  fainted ;  but  it  gradually  dimi- 
nished ;  in  spite  of  my  resolve  to  show  no  signs  of  it,  I 
could  not  suppress  a  shriek.  Conwell  soon  after  asked 
if  I  could  ride.  On  my  answering  "  Yes,"  he  helped  me 
on  a  horse ;  then  throwing  the  bear's  skin  and  some  of 
the  meat  on  his  own,  we  moved  slowly  homewards.  My 
sufferings  on  the  way  were  very  great,  but  I  uttered  no 
murmur.  I  only  longed  for  repose.  At  nightfall  we  had 
still  four  miles  to  go.  He  asked  me  if  I  could  support 
the  pain  and  fatigue,  or  if  we  should  camp  where  we 
were,  as  there  was  plenty  of  wood  and  water.  I  would 
rather  have  ridden  forty  miles,  let  alone  four,  with  the 
hope  of  rest  at  the  end  of  them.  We  arrived  in  about  an 
hour.  I  was 'so  stiff  that  I  could  hardly  get  off  the  horse. 
On  entering  the  room  I  threw  myself  on  a  bed,  and  had 
a  violent  fever  during  the  night,  and  talked  wildly — for- 
tunately in  German.  Towards  morning  I  began  to  feel 
better,  had  a  quiet  sleep,  and  woke  up  about  noon  much 
refreshed.  Meantime,  old  Conwell  had  related  all  that 
had  occurred,  and  they  attended  me  like  a  son.  It  took 
two  more  days  before  I  could  move  out  of  bed  and  was 
able  to  stand. 

I  was  hardly  so  far  recovered  as  to  be  able  to  crawl 
about,  when  Conwell  proposed  another  hunt,  and  although 


192  HUNTING   SPORTS   OP  THE  WEST. 

I  had  suffered  so  much,  I  could  not  say  "No."  On  the 
6th  of  February  we  rode  out  again,  but  there  was  no 
longer  any  life  in  the  thing ;  we  found  the  same  Indians, 
hunted  with  them  a  few  days,  shot  a  few  deer,  some  tur- 
keys, and  a  young  bear,  returning  on  the  12th,  Conwell 
with  two  deer-skins  and  some  haunches,  I  with  a  turkey. 
By  this  time  my  arm  was  quite  healed.  Nevertheless, 
I  had  made  up  my  mind  to  leave  the  mountains  and  go 
southwards,  partly  from  a  returning  fit  of  my  old  love  of 
change,  partly  because  I  longed  for  news  from  home,  not 
having  received  any  letters  for  several  months,  and  partly 
also  because  game  had  become  so  scarce  through  the 
number  of  hunters,  that  there  was  hardly  enough  to  sub- 
sist on.  We  heard  that  a  party  of  twelve  men  had  been 
along  the  Richland  and  killed  or  driven  away  everything, 
and  that  during  the  last  three  days  not  a  turkey  was  to 
be  seen.  The  news  of  game  from  other  quarters  was  no 
better ;  in  short  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  off !  off ! 
When  I  was  once  more  surrounded  by  my  old  friend's 
amiable  family,  and  passed  another  evening  amongst 
them,  my  resolution  was  indeed  shaken  ;  however,  during 
the  night  I  gave  it  mature  consideration,  and  in  the 
morning  I  told  them  that  I  should  that  day  take  my  de- 
parture. Attempts  were  immediately  made  to  dissuade 
me  from  it,  and  old  Conwell  asked  in  downright  earnest 
if  I  could  not  stay  with  them  always,  and  take  the  school. 
The  present  schoolmaster  was  ignorant  and  a  drunkard, 
and  they  would  have  been  glad  to  be  rid  of  him.  For 
a  moment,  indeed,  but  only  for  a  moment,  my  fancy  de- 
picted the  delights  of  a  home  amongst  the  mountains, 
then  the  image  of  my  old  village  schoolmaster  flashed 


I   DECLINE   TAKING   A   FARM.  193 

across  my  mind,  with  his  threadbare  black  coat,  false 
collars,  and  shirt-front,  and  his  frame  as  thin  as  a  skele- 
ton. I  shook  my  head  '  mournfully.  He  changed  his 
plan,  and  proposed  that  I  should  take  a  farm.  But  that 
I  had  also  reflected  on :  I  was  too  poor,  and  although 
the  kind  people  would  have  done  every  thing  in  their 
power  to  help  me,  I  should  have  been  too  dependent ; 
for  although  much  is  not  required  to  set  up  farming  in 
America,  still  there  must  be  something,  and  it  does  not 
look  well  for  the  beginner  to  be  always  borrowing  horse 
or  plow,  axe,  spade,  saw — in  short,  every  farming  and 
household  utensil,  until  at  last  the  most  patient  man 
would  be  worn  out,  and  everybody  would  be  alarmed  the 
moment  they  saw  the  borrower  coming.  I  was  once 
witness  of  such  a  beginning :  a  family  that  came  to  the 
forest  without  any  means,  were  at  first  most  liberally  as- 
sisted by  their  neighbors ;  they  helped  them  with  their 
fences,  in  building  their  house,  in  clearing  and  ploughing 
the  land,  and  lent  them  every  thing,  even  to  flour  and 
pork  ;  but  how  could  people  who  began  thus  ever  become 
independent?  It  took  years  before  they  could  procure 
the  most  necessary  articles  for  themselves. 

My  old  friend  acknowledged  the  truth  of  the  picture, 

and  my  journey  was  settled  for  the  morrow. 
13 


194  HUNTING   SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 


DRIVES. 

THE  following  graphic  and  very  interesting  account 
of  the  drives,  common  in  newly  settled  countries,  is  ex- 
tracted from  "  A  Sketch  of  the  Settlement  of  the  Town- 
ship of  Tallmage,  in  Summit  county,  Ohio,"  by  Charles- 
"Whittlesey. 

This  region  was  originally  very  well  stocked  with 
bear,  wolves,  deer,  and  turkeys.  The  flesh  of  the  two 
last  was  not  only  a  luxury,  but  a  necessary  article  of 
food.  Deer  skin  breeches,  and  deer  skin  facings  to 
woolen  pantaloons,  (after  one  season's  service,)  were  the 
height  of  fashion.  Red  foxes  were  not  common.  The 
wolf  made  great  havoc  with  the  few  sheep  introduced 
here ;  committing  depredations  at  the  same  time  upon 
the  wild  deer.  He  has  been  known  to  attack  cows. 
The  bear  confined  himself  to  hogs,  and  many  instances 
are  given  of  his  boldness  in  capturing  and  carrying 
away  provisions  of  this  kind.  He  springs  suddenly 
upon  his  victim,  gifcsps  him  in  his  arms  or  forelegs,  with 
a  force  which  is  irresistible,  erects  himself  upon  his  hind 
logs  like  a  man,  and  makes  off  in  an  instant  with  his 
load.  The  piercing'  squeal  of  the  hog  is  the  first  warn- 
ing of  his  presence  to  the  owner.  A  large  bear,  who 
meets  with  no  obstruction,  will  make  his  way  through  a 
thick  wood  in- this  manner,  with  a  hog  of  good  size,  faster 
than  a  man  on  foot  can  follow.  The  groans  and  strug- 
gles of  the  animal  in  his  embrace,  become  weaker  and 
weaker,  and  soon  cease  entirely.  One  of  these  creatures 


DRIVES.  195 

took  a  slioat  from  a  drove  belonging  to  captain  J.  Hart, 
of  Middlebury,  in  his  presence.  The  captain  followed 
him  closely,  but  the  bear  evidently  gained  in  the  race, 
till  he  came  to  a  brush  fence,  and  not  being  able  to 
climb  it  with  sufficient  expedition,  dropped  the  dying 
pig  in  order  to  secure  himself.  Mr.  Edmund  Strong  was 
chopping  on  his  land,  when  one  of  his  hogs  was  taken 
near  by.  After  a  severe  contest  with  clubs,  Mr.  Strong 
recovered  the  body  of  his  hog  ;  and,  using  it  as  a  bait, 
afterwards  caught  the  offender  in  a  trap.  Another 
seized  a  full  grown  hog  belonging  to  A.  Whittlesey,  near 
the  centre,  and,  notwithstanding  men  were  near  by,  and 
made  close  pursuit,  he  carried  it  off  without  difficulty. 

When  Mr.  Ephraim  Clark  lived  in  a  log-house,  a  few 
rods  north  of  the  parsonage,  on  the  same  side,  his  hogs 
were  fed  across  the  road  at  a  trough  in  the  field.  One 
morning,  as  he  returned  from  feeding  them,  a  large  bear 
fell  upon  the  hogs  before  he  had  reached  the  house.  By 
the  time  he  had  seized  his  rifle,  and  re-crossed  the  road, 
the  bear  had  secured  one,  and  as  he  rose  preparatory  to 
a  retreat,  received  a,  bullet  in  the  chest.  He  then  let 
the  hog  fall,  and  made  fiercely  toward  Mr.  Clark,  but 
in  making  an  effort  to  scale  the  bars,  fell  backward  and 
died. 

Mr.  John  Caruthers  and  his  dogs  fell  in  with  one  of  a 
moderate  size,  while  traversing  the  woods  near  the  east 
line  of  the  township,  in  search  of  horses.  An  engage- 
ment followed,  in  which  the  bear  had  apparently  the 
advantage.  To  an  early  settler,  the  loss  of  a  dog,  his 
companion  and  faithful  sentinel,  was  a  misfortune  that 
affected,  not  only  his  interest,  but  the  best  feelings  of 


196  HUNTING   SPORTS   OP  THE  WEST. 

his  heart.  Mr.  Caruthers  had  nothing  in  his  hand  hut 
a  bridle,  and  could  therefore  bring  no  weapon  to  the  as- 
sistance of  his  friends,  but  such  dry  clubs  as  lay  about 
him.  The  animal  paid  very  little  attention  .  to  these  if 
but  at  length  finding  a  young  sappling,  he  broke  it  into 
a  good  stick,  and  managed  to  give  several  hard  knocks, 
repeatedly  on  the  same  spot,  just  behind  the  ear.  By 
this  means  he  was  killed,  and  the  dog  released. 

By  the  assistance  of  a  large  and  valuable  wolf  dog, 
Mr.  D.  Preston  and  Mr.  Drake  Fellows  killed  one  with 
clubs  and  stones,  at  the  south  end  of  "  Stony  Hill." 

If  the  body  of  a  hog  was  recovered  partly  eaten,  the 
same  bear  could  generally  be  taken  in  a  trap,  within 
the  next  twenty-four  hours.  He  invariably  returned, 
for  the  remainder,  and  showed  little  or  no  sagacity  in 
avoiding  his  fate.  For  this  purpose,  a  heavy  steel  trap 
was  used,  with  smooth  jaws  and  a  long  drag  chain,  with 
iron  claws  at  the  extremity.  It  was  not  fastened  to  the 
spot,  because  the  great  strength  of  the  animal  would 
enable  him  to  free  himself,  but  as  he  ran,  after  being 
caught,  the  claws  would  catch  upon  the  brush,  retarding 
his  flight,  and  leaving  a  distinct  trail.  He  was  gene- 
rally overtaken  within  two  miles,  exhausted  of  strength. 
Here  the  dogs  were  first  allowed  an  opportunity  to  ex- 
hibit their  courage  and  natural  animosity,  before  the 
rifle  put  an  end  to  his  degradation  and  sufferings.  In 
these  conflicts  if  the  shackles  were  upon  his  hind  legs, 
leaving  the  fore  paws  free,  there  were  but  few  dogs  de- 
sirous of  a  close  combat  the  second  time. 

In  the  winter  of  1824-5,  the  inhabitants  of  this  and 
the  adjoining  townships,  determined  to  make  an  effort  to 


DBIVES.  19T 

clear  the  country  of  the  bear,  and  of  the  wolf  at  the 
same  time.  There  were  four  drives,  or  large  hunts,  or- 
ganized during  the  winter;  two  in  Brimfield,  one  in 
Springfield,  and  one  in  Portage.  They  were  frequently 
got  up  in  the  new  country  by  those  who  were  not  pro- 
fessed hunters,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  a  few  deer  and 
turkeys,  then  so  common.  A  large  tract  of  wild  land, 
the  half  or  fourth  of  a  township,  was  surrounded  by 
lines  of  men,  with  such  intervals  that  each  person  could 
see  or  hear  those  next  to  him,  right  and  left.  The  whole 
acted  under  the  command  of  a  captain  and  at  least  four 
subordinates,  who  were  generally  mounted.  At  a  signal 
of  tin  horns,  or  trumpets,  every  man  advanced  in  line 
towards  the  centre,  preserving  an  equal  distance  from 
those  on  either  hand,  and  making  as  much  noise  as 
practicable.  From  the  middle  of  each  side  of  the  exte- 
rior line,  a  blazed  line  of  trees  was  previously  marked 
to  the  centre  as  a  guide,  and  one  of  the  sub-officers  pro- 
ceeded along  each  as  the  march  progressed.  About 
a  half  or  three-fourths  of  a  mile  from  the  central  point, 
a  ring  of  blazed  trees  was  made,  and  a  similar  one  at  the 
ground  of  meeting,  with  a  diameter  at  least  equal  to  the 
greatest  rifle  range.  On  arriving  at  the  first  ring,  the 
advancing  Imes  halted  till  the  commandant  made  a  cir- 
cuit, and  saw  the  men  equally  distributed  and  all  gaps 
closed.  By  this  time  a  herd  of  deer  might  be  occasion- 
ally seen  driving  in  affright  from  one  line  to  another. 
At  the  signal,  the  ranks  move  forward  to  the  second 
ring,  which  is  drawn  around  the  foot  of  a  eminence,  or 
the  margin  of  an  open  swamp  or  lake.  Here,  if  the 
drive  has  been  a  successful  one,  great  numbers  of  tur- 


198  HUNTING   SPORTS    OF  THE   WEST. 

keys  may  be  seen  flying  among  the  trees  away  from  the 
spot ;  deer  in  flocks,  sweeping  round  the  ring,  under  an 
incessant  fire,  panting  and  exhausted.  When  thus 
pressed,  it  is  difficult  to  detain  them  long  within  the 
ring.  They  become  desperate,  and  make  for  the  line  at 
full  speed.  If  the  men  are  too  numerous  and  resolute 
to  give  way,  they  leap  over  their  heads,  and  all  the 
sticks,  pitchforks,  and  guns,  raised  to  oppose  them.  By 
a  concert  of  the  regular  hunters,  gaps  are  sometimes 
made  purposely  to  allow  them  to  escape.  The  wolf  is 
now  seen  skulking  through  the  bushes,  hoping  to  escape 
observation  by  concealment.  If  bear  are  driven  in,  they 
dash  through  the  brush  in  a  rage,  from  one  part  to  an- 
other, regardless  of  the  shower  of  bullets  playing  upon 
them.  After  the  game  appears  to  be  mostly  killed,  a 
few  good  marksmen  and  dogs  scour  the  ground  within 
the  circle,  to  stir  up  what  may  be  concealed  or  wounded. 
This  over,  they  advance  again  to  the  centre,  with  a 
shout,  dragging  along  the  carcasses  which  have  fallen, 
for  the  purpose  of  making  a  count. 

It  was  at  the  hunt  in  Portage,  that  the  bear  were  either 
exterminated  or  driven  away  from  this  vicinity.  It  em- 
braced the  "Perkins'  Swamp,"  and  several  smaller  ones, 
rendered  passable  by  ice.  At  the  close  of  this  "  drive" 
twenty-six  were  brought  to  the  centre  ground  and  others 
reported. 

"Wolves  were  taken  with  difficulty  in  steel  traps,  but 
more  readily  in  log  pens,  prepared  like  the  roof  of  a 
house,  shelving  inwards  on  all  sides,  and  containing  the 
half  devoured  carcass  of  a  sheep,  upon  which  they  had 
made  a  previous  meal.  The  wolf  easily  clambered  up 


DRIVES.  199 

the  exterior  side  of  the  cabin,  and  entered  at  the  top, 
which  was  left  open ;  but  once  fairly  within  it,  he  could 
neither  escape  or  throw  it  down. 

Turkeys  were  taken  in  square  pens,  made  of  lighter 
timber,  and  covered  at  the  top.  They  entered  at  an 
open  door  in  the  side,  which  was  suspended  by  a  string 
that  led  to  a  catch  within.  This  string  and  catch  were 
covered  with  chaff,  which  induced  them  to  enter,  and 
while  engaged  in  scratching  about  the  chaff  to  get  at  the 
grain  mingled  with  it,  some  unlucky  companion  would 
strike  the  catch,  and  let  the  door  down  behind  them 
all. 

This  town  was  much  infested  with  rattlesnakes, 
during  the  first  ten  years  of  its  settlement,  though  but 
one  instance  is  known  of  a  bite  among  the  inhabitants. 
There  were  two  kinds,  the  large  yellow,  (crotalus  duris- 
sus  of  naturalists,)  and  the  small  venomous  black  rattle- 
snake, (crotalus  miliarius^  or  massassauga.  The  mas- 
sassauga  frequented  the  low  grounds,  to  the  terror  of 
all  cranberry  hunters.  The  yellow  rattlesnake,  which 
was  very  large  and  more  numerous,  kept  the  open  dry 
ground,  particularly  fields  of  standing  grown  wheat.  It 
is  said  that  eleven  were  killed  in  one  day  in  a  wheat 
field,  one  mile  north  of  the  centre.  They  resorted  in 
the  winter  to  a  den  in  the  rocks,  at  the  southwest  part 
of  Stony  hill.  On  the  approach  of  spring,  attracted  by 
the  warmth  of  the  atmosphere,  they  would  come  out  in 
a  half  torpid  state,  and  were  killed  by  the  inhabitants 
by  scores.  At  this  day,  a  rattlesnake,  a  bear,  or  a  wolf, 
would  be  equally  an  object  of  curiosity. 


200  HUNTING  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 


HUNTING  ADVENTURES  OF  ICHABOD  MERRITT. 

ICHABOD  MERRITT  was  born  in  Massachusetts,  in 
June,  1796.  In  1804  his  parents  removed  to  the  dis- 
trict of  Three-Rivers,  in  Lower  Canada.  At  that  time 
there  was  an  abundance  of  game  in  that  part  of  Canada, 
and  also  in  the  adjoining  parts  of  Vermont.  For  many 
months  during  the  fall  and  winter,  hunting  and  trapping 
was  a  regular,  and  also  a  profitable  business.  It  was 
here,  and  in  his  youthful  days,  that  Mr.  Merritt  inured 
himself  to  hardship,  and  self-possession  in  case  of  diffi- 
culty. He  usually  spent  his  winters  in  the  woods,  either 
trapping  the  martin  and  sable  for  their  fur,  or  hunting 
the  bear,  moose,  or  deer,  with  which  those  woods 
abounded.  In  the  fall  of  1815,  he,  with  a  brother, 
killed  ten  bears,  the  skins  of  which  they  sold  for  one 
hundred  dollars.  I  give  his  account  of  his  killing  one 
of  them,  as  something  of  a  specimen  of  the  rest.  "  The 
dogs,"  (for  a  hunter  in  those  days  could  not  hunt  with- 
out two,  and  sometimes  with  more  dogs)  he  remarked, 
"  had  started  a  bear,  and  it  appeared  to  be  coming 
partly  towards  me.  I  moved  in  a  direction  to  head  it. 
Soon  it  came  in  sight,  and  when  about  twelve  rods  from 
me  it  jumped  upon  a  log,  and  turned  to  look  and  listen 
for  the  dogs.  At  this  time  I  fired  at  it.  The  ball 
struck  the  jawbone,  and  glancing,  lodged  in  the  skin  in 
its  neck.  The  bear  was  hurt  but  little,  and  continued 
in  her  course,  coming  near  where  I  was  loading.  The 
dogs  overtook  and  seized  it.  In  my  haste  to  load,  I  had 


HUNTING  ADVENTURES   OF  ICHABOD   MERRITT.    201 

not  watched  them ;  but  the  moment  I  had  finished  load- 
ing I  looked  up,  and  the  bear  had  got  clear  of  the  dogs 
and  was  pitching  at  me.  She  w.as  not  eight  feet  off. 
I  sprang  and  ran  a  short  distance,  every  step  of  which 
I  could  not  help  cringing,  for  I  almost  felt  the  embrace 
of  the  bear,  and  expected  every  instant  to  see  her  huge 
paws  coming  around  me.  As  soon  as  I  dared  to  look 
behind  me,  I  found  my  faithful  dogs  had  seized  the  bear, 
and  she  had  turned  to  fight  them.  This  gave  me  the 
very  chance  I  wanted,  and  I  let  drive  at  her  head,  and 
shot  her  square  through.  She  died  instantly." 

In  that  climate  (Canada)  the  bears  usually  den  up  in 
the  winter,  and  lie  in  something  of  a  torpid  state. 
During  a  thaw,  they  sometimes  venture  out,  but  that  is 
seldom.  In  warmer  climates,  they  ramble  more  while 
the  snow  is  upon  the  ground. 

During  those  winter  hunts,  to  find  and  kill  the  moose, 
was  quite  an  object  with  the  hunters.  The  moose  is  an 
animal  similar  to  the  deer  or  elk,  except  vastly  larger. 
Their  color  is  dark  gray.  The  horns  of  the  male  are 
pronged,  and  very  large  in  proportion  to  the  size  of 
their  bodies.  The  body  is  thick-set,  tail  short,  and  they 
have  a  very  large  upper  lip.  Their  usual  gait  is  a  trot, 
swinging  their  legs  out  so  as  to  form  a  half  circle  in  the 
snow  when  it  was  three  or  four  feet  deep.  . "  I  have 
often,"  says  Merritt,  "  measured  their  steps  in  the  snow, 
and  found  them  seven  feet  apart."  A  man,  five  and  a 
half  feet  high,  could  walk  under  the  belly  of  a  full 
grown  one.  They  usually  bring  two  young  at  a  time. 
In  winter,  they  herd  together,  and  as  the  snow  increases, 
they  form  yards,  living  upon  browse,  the  twigs  and  bark 


202  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

of  trees.  Sometimes  they  will  take  a  strip,  following 
some  ridge  or  swamp,  feeding  upon  the  brush  until  they 
fill  themselves,  and  then  lie  down,  the  next  day  pro- 
gressing on  further. 

"  The  last  moose  which  I  killed,"  said  Merritt,  "  was 
out  back  of  Brompton  lake,  in  Canada.  I  was  hunting 
with  J.  Bonney.  It  was  near  night,  when  we  came  upon 
a  moose-yard.  We  had  taken  provisions  but  for  one 
day.  We  were  not  expecting  then  to  chase  them,  but 
merely  to  find  their  place  of  yarding,  and  then  wait 
until  the  snow  became  deeper  before  we  disturbed  them. 
When  the  snow  was  deep,  and  particularly  whea  there 
was  an  icy  crust,  we  could  soon  run  them  down  arid 
shoot  them.  Bonney  was  for  giving  immediate  chase. 
I  persuaded  him  to  camp  that  night,  and  in  the  morning 
to  ascertain  where  we  could  get  some  provisions  before 
we  started  them,  as  the  chase  might  last,  as  it  frequently 
did  when  there  was  but  little  snow,  five  or  six  days. 
The  next  day,  it  took  us  until  about  noon  before  we 
could  find  anything  to  eat.  We  then  obtained  three 
quarts  of  Indian-mealj  and  about  four  pounds  of  bull- 
beef.  We  had  with  us  a  small  kettle,  with  the  aid  of 
which  we  made  our  meal  into  porridge.  ,  Our  dogs 
shared  our  provisions  with  us.  We  did  but  little  this 
day,  the  second  of  our  trip,  except  to  get  back  upon  the 
trail.  The  third  day  we  gave  chase ;  but,  before  night, 
Bonney  was  for  giving  up  the  pursuit.  I  persuaded 
him  to  continue,  told  him  that  he  had  been  fierce  to 
begin  the  pursuit  when  we  had  nothing  to  eat,  and  now 
when  we  had  beef  and  porridge,  I  was  for  going  ahead. 
Near  night  the  dogs  came  up  with  them,  but  too  late  for 


HUNTING   ADVENTURES   OP  ICHABOD   MERRITT.    203 

us  to  get  a  shot  at  them.  We  again  encamped.  The 
next  day,  after  following  five  miles  further,  we  overtook 
them  back  of  a  hill,  which  by  the  sound,  they  appeared 
to  be  going  around.  I  immediately  ran  to  the  opposite 
side  of  the  hill  to  meet  them.  They  came  around  as  I 
expected,  and  I  partly  met  them.  As  they  turned,  a 
large  one  ran  upon  the  ice  of  a  creek  and  broke  in.  As 
he  rose  upon  the  ice,  I  was  ready,  and  cut  loose  upon 
him,  and  shot  him  square  through.  This  stopped  his 
running.  After  securing  our  prize,  and  getting  a  hearty 
meal  of  fresh  meat,  we  returned." 

When  Merritt  came  to  the  State  of  Ohio,  in  1815, 
there  were  numerous  elk  in  the  forests  of  this  State. 
The  elk  is  of  the  deer  species,  although  much  larger, 
the  male,  like  that  of  the  deer,  only  having  horns.  They 
usually  go  in  droves.  "In  1823,"  says  Merritt,  "I 
started  three  in  the  northwest  corner  of  this  township  ; 
after  following  them  around  awhile,  one  separated  from 
the  others.  I  followed  that  one,  and  at  night  came 
within  two  miles  of  home.  I  went  home  and  slept,  and 
the  next  morning  I  took  my  brother  with  me,  and  a 
rope,  determining  to  catch  and  bring  it  in  alive.  We 
took  its  track,  there  being  a  little  snow,  and  often  came 
in  sight  of  it.  Many  times  we  might  have  shot  it,  but 
we  were  determined  to  halter  it.  The  next  night  found 
us  about  fifteen  miles  from  home.  The  third  day  the 
elk  became  worried  and  hungry,  as  we  had  not  allowed 
it  to  eat.  During  the  day  it  ran  into  a  cleared  field, 
and  the  dogs  there  stopped  and  held  it.  It  was  a  cow 
elk.  I  came  up  and  caught  my  right  'arm  over  its  neck, 
and  with  my  left  hand  I  took  it  by  the  nose.  She  soon 


204  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

cleared  herself  from  the  dogs,  and  I  found  that  I  had  a 
wild  colt  to  handle.  She  carried  me  with  ease — fre- 
quently striking  at  me  with  her  fore-feet.  I  managed 
so  that  her  feet  usually  went  one  upon  each  side  of  me, 
when  she  reared  and  struck,  so  that  I  was  but  little 
hurt.  I  would  then  have  been  glad  to  be  out  of  that 
scrape ;  but  the  difficulty  was  in  letting  go.  We  soon 
arrived  at  the  opposite  side  of  the  field,  where  was 
a  high  and  strong  fence.  With  my  weight,  the  elk 
could  not  jump  the  fence,  and  I  here,  with  my  left  hand, 
caught  around  a  rail,  and  I  found  I  was  able  to  hold  the 
creature  down,  until  my  brother  came  up  with  the  rope. 
When  this  was  fastened  to  her,  both  of  us  could  hold 
her.  With  the  aid  of  a  crotched  stick,  to  keep  her  off, 
we  led  her  to  a  log  stable,  and  there  confined  her.  Af- 
ter getting  help  so  as  to  have  one  with  a  halter  upon  each 
side,  and  one  behind  to  whip  up,  we  succeeded  to  lead  her 
home,  a  distance  of  twenty-eight  miles."  Merritt  says, 
that  he  has  killed  or  caught  with  ropes,  over  thirty  elk, 
in  and  near  this  place.  They  have  now,  for  more  than 
eighteen  years,  all  disappeared  from  these  parts,  und  it 
will  soon  only  be  known  by  tradition,  or  from  history, 
that  such  animals  ever  roamed  our  forests. 


PERILOUS  ADVENTURES  OF  ROSS  COX.  205 


PERILOUS   ADVENTURES  OF  MR,  ROSS   COX. 

MR.  Cox's  book  is  entitled  "  Adventures  on  the  Col- 
umbia river,  including  the  narrative  of  a  residence  of  six 
years  on  the  west  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  among 
varkws  tribes  of  Indians ;  together  with  a  journey  across 
the  Rocky  Mountains."  It  is  exceedingly  entertaining  ; 
and  as  it  abounds  with  curious  hunting  adventures,  we 
shall  make  some  extracts  from  it.  Mr.  Cox  left  Astoria 
with  a  trading  party,  (June  29th,  1812,)  and  went  up  the 
Columbia  river  to  visit  and  trade  with  the  Indians.  The 
following  extract  gives  an  account  of  his  most  perilous 
adventure. 

On  the  17th  of  August  we  left  our  encampment  a  little 
after  four  A.  M.  During  the  forenoon  the  sun  was  in- 
tensely hot.  Occasional  bright  green  patches,  inter- 
mixed with  wild  flowers,  and  gently  rising  eminences, 
partially  covered  with  clumps  of  small  trees,  gave  an 
agreeable  variety  to  the  face  of  the  country ;  which  we 
enjoyed  the  more,  from  the  scorched  and  sterile  uniformity 
of  the  plains  through  which  we  had  passed  on  the  two 
preceding  days.  We  got  no  water,  however,  until  twelve 
o'clock,  when  we  arrived  in  a  small  valley  of  the  most 
delightful  verdure,  through  which  ran  a  clear  stream 
from  the  northward,  over  a  pebbly  bottom.  The  horses 
were  immediately  turned  loose  to  regale  themselves  in 
the  rich  pasture ;  and  as  it  was  full  of  red  and  white 
clover,  orders  were  given  not  to  catch  them  until  two 
o'clock,  by  which  time  we  thought  they  would  be  suf- 
ficently  refreshed  for  the  evening's  journey. 


206  HUNTING   SPOUTS   OP  THE   WEST. 

After  walking  and  riding  eight  hours,  I  need  not  say 
we  made  a  hearty  breakfast ;  after  which  I  wandered 
some  distance  along  the  banks  of  the  rivulet  in  search  of 
cherries,  and  came  to  a  sweet  little  arbor  formed  by 
sumach  and  cherry  trees.  I  pulled  a  quantity  of  the 
fruit,  and  sat  down  in  the  retreat  to  enjoy  its  refreshing 
coolness.  It  was  a  charming  spot,  and  on  the  opposite 
bank  was  a  delightful  wilderness  of  crimson  haw,  honey- 
suckles, wild  roses,  and  currants ;  its  resemblance  to  a 
friend's  summer-house,  in  which  I  had  spent  many  happy 
days,  brought  back  home,  with  all  its  endearing  recollec- 
tions ;  and  my  scattered  thoughts  were  successively  oc- 
cupied with  the  past,  the  present,  and  the  future.  In 
this  state  I  fell  into  a  kind  of  pleasing,  soothing  revery, 
which,  joined  to  the  morning's  fatigue,  gradually  sealed 
my  eyelids;  and  unconscious  of  my  situation,  I  resigned 
myself  to  the  influence  of  the ,  drowsy  god.  Imagine  my 
feelings  when  I  awoke  in  the  evening,  I  think  it  was 
about  five  o'clock  from  the  declining  appearance  of  the 
sun  !  All  was  calm  and  silent  as  the  grave.  I  hastened 
to  the  spot  where  we  had  breakfasted  :  I  ran  to  the  place 
where  the  men  had  made  their  fire :  all,  all  were  gone, 
and  not  a  vestige  of  man  or  horse  appeared  in  the  valley. 
My  senses  almost  failed  me.  I  called  out,  in  vain,  in 
every  direction,  until  I  became  hoarse ;  and  I  could  no 
longer  conceal  from  myself  the  dreadful  truth  that  I  was 
alone  in  a  wild,  uninhabited  country,  without  horse  or 
arms,  and  destitute  of  covering. 

Having  now  no  resource  but  to  ascertain  the  direction 
which  the  party  had  taken,  I  set  about  examining  the 
ground,  and  at  the  northeast  point  of  the  valley  discov- 


AUTHOR   LOSES   THE   PARTY.  207 

ered  the  tracks  of  horses'  feet,  which  I  followed  for  some 
time,  and  which  led  to  a  chain  of  small  hills,  with  a  rocky 
gravelly  bottom,  on  which  the  hoofs  made  no  impression. 
Having  thus  lost  the  tracks,  I  ascended  the  highest  of 
the  hills,  from  which  I  had  an  extended  view  of  many 
miles  around ;  but  saw  no  sign  of  the  party,  or  the  lea.st 
indication  of  human  habitations.  The  evening  was  now 
closing  fast,  and  with  the  approach  of  night  a  heavy  dew 
commenced  falling.  The  whole  of  my  clothes  consisted 
merely  of  a  gingham  shirt,  nankeen  trousers,  and  a  pair 
of  light  leather  moccasins,  much  worn.  About  an  hour 
before  breakfast,  in  consequence  of  the  heat,  I  had  taken 
oft*  my  coat,  and  placed  it  on  one  of  the  loaded  horses, 
intending  to  put  it  on  towards  the  cool  of  the  evening ; 
and  one  of  the  men  had  charge  of  my  fowling-piece.  I 
was  even  without  my  hat ;  for  in  the  agitated  state  of 
my  mind  on  awaking,  I  had  left  it  behind,  and  had  ad- 
vanced too  far  to  think  of  returning  for  it.  At  some 
distance  on  my  left,  I  observed  a  field  of  high,  strong 
grass,  to  which  I  proceeded,  and  after  pulling  enough  to 
place  under  and  over  me,  I  recommended  myself  to  the 
Almighty,  and  fell  asleep.  During  the  night  confused 
dreams  of  warm  houses,  feather-beds,  poisoned  arrows, 
prickly-pears,  and  rattlesnakes,  haunted  my  disturbed 
imagination. 

On  the  18th  I  arose  with  the  sun,  quite  wet  and  chilly, 
the  heavy  dew  having  completely  saturated  my  flimsy 
covering,  and  proceeded  in  an  easterly  direction,  nearly 
parallel  with  the  chain  of  hills.  In  the  course  of  the 
day  I  passed  several  small  lakes  full  of  wild-fowl.  The 
general  appearance  of  the  country  was  flat,  the  soil  'light 


208  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

and  gravelly,  and  covered  with  the  same  loose  grass  al- 
ready mentioned ;  great  quantities  of  it  had  been  recently 
burned  by  the  Indians  in  hunting  the  deer,  the  stubble 
of  which  annoyed  my  feet  very  much.  I  had  turned  into 
a  northerly  course,  where,  late  in  the  evening,  I  observed, 
about  a  mile  distant,  two  horsemen  galloping  in  an  easterly 
direction.  From  their  dresses  I  knew  they  belonged  to 
our  party.  I  instantly  ran  to  a  hillock,  and  called  out 
in  a  voice,  to  which  hunger  had  imparted  a  supernatural 
shrillness ;  but  they  galloped  on.  I  then  took  off  my 
shirt,  which  I  waved  in  a  conspicuous  manner  over  my 
head,  accompanied  by  the  most  frantic  cries  ;  still  they 
continued  on.  I  ran  towards  the  direction  they  were 
galloping,  despair  adding  wings  to  my  flight.  Rocks, 
'stubble,  and  brushwood  were  passed  with  the  speed  of  a 
hunted  antelope  ;  but  to  no  purpose  ;  for  arriving  at  the 
place  where  I  imagined  a  pathway  would  have  brought  me 
into  their  track,  I  was  completely  at  fault.  It  was  now 
nearly  dark.  I  had  eaten  nothing  since  the  noon  of  the 
preceding  day :  and,  faint  with  hunger  and  fatigue,  threw 
myself  on  the  grass,  when  I  heard  a  small  rustling  noise 
behind  me.  I  turned  round,  and,  with  horror,  beheld  a 
large  rattlesnake  cooling  himself  in  the  evening  shade. 
I  instantly  retreated,  on  observing  which  he  coiled  him- 
self. Having  obtained  a  large  stone,  I  advanced  slowly 
on  him,  and  taking  a  proper  aim,  dashed  it  with  all  my 
force  on  the  reptile's  head,  which  I  buried  in  the  ground 
beneath  the  stone. 

The  late  race  had  completely  worn  out  the  thin  soles 
of  my  moccasins,  and  my  feet  in  consequence  became 
much  swollen.  As  night  advanced,  I  was  obliged  to  look 


DESTITUTE   SITUATION.  209 

out  for  a  place  to  sleep,  and  after  some  time,  selected 
nearly  as  good  a  bed  as  the  one  I  had  the  first  night. 
My  exertions  in  pulling  the  long  coarse  grass  nearly  ren- 
dered my  hands  useless,  by  severely  cutting  all  the  joints 
of  the  fingers. 

I  rose  before  the  sun  on  the  morning  of  the  19th,  and 
pursued  an  easterly  course  all  the  day.  I  at  first  felt 
very  hungry,  but  after  walking  a  few  miles,  and  taking 
a  drink  of  water,  I  got  a  little  refreshed.  The  general 
appearance  of  the  country  was  still  flat,  with  burned  grass, 
and  sandy  soil,  which  blistered  my  feet.  The  scorching 
influence  of  the  sun  obliged  me  to  stop  for  some  hours  in 
the  day;  during  which  I  made  several  ineffectual  attempts 
to  construct  a  covering  for  my  head.  At  times  I  thought 
my  brain  was  on  fire  from  the  dreadful  effects  of  the  heat. 
I  got  no  fruit  those  two  days,  and  towards  evening  felt 
very  weak  for  the  want  of  nourishment,  having  been 
forty-eight  hours  without  food  ;  and  to  make  my  situation 
more  annoying,  I  slept  •  that  evening  on  the  banks  of  a 
pretty  lake,  the  inhabitants  of  which* would  have  done 
honor  to  a  royal  table.  With  what  an  evil  eye,  and  a 
murderous  heart,  did  I  regard  the  stately  goose,  and  the 
plump  waddling  duck,  as  they  sported  on  the  water,  un- 
conscious of  my  presence  !  Even  with  a  pocket-pistol  I 
could  have  done  execution  among  them.  The  state  of 
my  fingers  prevented  me  from  obtaining  the  covering  of 
grass  which  I  had  the  two  preceding  nights ;  and  on  this 
evening  I  had  no  shelter  whatever  to  protect  me  from 
the  heavy  dew. 

On  the  following  day,  the  20th,  my  course  was  nearly 

northeast,  and  lay  through  a  country  more  diversified  by 
14 


210  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE  WEST. 

wood  and  water.  I  saw  plenty  of  wild  geese,  ducks, 
cvanes,  curlews,  and  sparrows,  also  some  hawks  and  cor- 
morants, and  at  a  distance  about  fifteen  or  twenty  small 
deer.  The  wood  consisted  of  pine,  birch,  cedar,  wild- 
cherries,  hawthorn,  sweet-willow,  honey-suckle,  and 
sumach.  The  rattlesnakes  were  very  numerous  this  day, 
with  horned  lizards,  and  grasshoppers :  the  latter  kept 
me  in  a  constant  state  of  feverish  alarm,  from  the  similarity 
of  the  noise  made  by  their  wings  to  the  sound  of  the 
rattles  of  the  snake,  when  preparing  to  dart  on  its  prey. 
I  suffered  severely  during  the  day  from  hunger,  and  was 
obliged  to  chew  grass  occasionally,  which  allayed  it  a 
little.  Late  in  the  evening  I  arrived  at  a  lake  upwards 
of  two  miles  long,  and  a  mile  broad,  the  shores  of  which 
were  high,  and  well-wooded  with  large  pine,  spruce,  and 
birch.  It  was  fed  by  two  rivulets,  from  the  north  and 
northeast,  in  which  I  observed  a  quantity  of  small  fish ; 
but  had  no  means  of  catching  any,  or  I  should  have  made 
a  Sandwich  Island  meal.  There  was,  however,  an  abun- 
dant supply  of  wild  cherries,  on  which  I  made  a  hearty 
supper.  I  slept  on  the  bank  of  the  nearest  stream,  just 
where  it  entered  the  lake,  but  during  the  night  the  how- 
ling of  the  wolves,  and  growling  of  bears,  broke  in  terri- 
bly on  my  slumbers,  and  "balmy  sleep"  was  almost 
banished  from  my  eyelids.  On  rising  the  next  morning, 
the  21st,  I  observed  on  the  opposite  bank,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  the  entrance  of  a  large  and  apparently  deep 
cavern,  from  which  I  judged  some  of  the  preceding  night's 
music  had  issued.  I  now  determined  to  make  short  jour- 
neys, for  two  or  three  days,  in  different  directions,  in  the 
hope  of  falling  on  some  fresh  horse  tracks ;  and  in  the 


ATTACK   ON   A   WOLF.  211 

event  of  being  unsuccessful,  to  return  each  night  to 
the  lake,  where  I  was  at  least  certain  of  procuring  cherries 
and  water  sufficient  to  sustain  nature.  In  pursuance  of 
this  resolution  I  set  out  early,  in  a  southerly  direction, 
from  the  head  of  the  lake,  through  a  wild  barren  country, 
without  any  water  or  vegetation,  save  loose  tufts  of  grass, 
like  those  already  described.  I  had  armed  myself  with 
a  long  stick,  with  which,  during  the  day,  I  killed  several 
rattlesnakes.  Having  discovered  no  fresh  tracks,  I  re- 
turned late  in  the  evening  hungry  and  thirsty,  and  took 
possession  of  my  berth  of  the  preceding  night.  I  col- 
lected a  heap  of  stones  from  the  water-side ;  and  just 
as  I  was  lying  down  observed  a  wolf  emerge  from  the 
opposite  cavern,  and  thinking  it  safer  to  act  on  the  of- 
fensive, lest  he  should  imagine  I  was  afraid,  I  threw  some 
stones  at  him,  one  of  which  struck  him  on  the  leg :  he 
retired  yelling  into  his  den  ;  and  after  waiting  some  time 
in  fearful  suspense,  to  see  if  he  wrould  reappear,  I  threw 
myself  on  the  ground,  and  fell  asleep ;  but,  like  the  night 
before,  it  was  broken  by  the  same  unmusical  noise,  and  for 
upwards  of  two  hours  I  sat  up  waiting  in  anxious  expec- 
tation the  return  of  daylight.  The  vapors  from  the  lake, 
joined  to  the  heavy  dew,  had  penetrated  my  frail  rover- 
ing  of  gingham ;  but  as  the  sun  ros«,  I  took  it  off,  and 
stretched  it  on  a  rock,  where  it  quickly  dried.  My  ex- 
cursion to  the  southward  having  proved  abortive,  1  now 
resolved  to  try  the  east,  and  after  eating  my  simple 
breakfast,  proceeded  in  that  direction :  and  on  crossing 
the  two  small  streams,  had  to  penetrate  a  country  full 
of  "dark  woods  and  rankling  wilds,"  through  which, 
owing  to  the  immense  quantities  of  underwood,  my  pro- 


212  HUNTING   SPORTS    OF  THE  WEST. 

gress  was  slow.  My  feet  too  were  uncovered,  and,  from 
the  thorns  of  the  various  prickly  plants,  were  much  lace- 
rated ;  in  consequence  of  which,  on  returning  to  my  late 
bivouack,  I  was  obliged  to  shorten  the  legs  of  my  trousers 
to  procure  bandages  for  them.  The  wolf  did  not  make 
his  appearance ;  but  during  the  night  I  got  occasional 
starts  from  several  of  his  brethren  of  the  forest. 

I  anticipated  the  rising  of  the  sun  on  the  morning  of 
the  23d,  and  having  been  unsuccessful  the  two  preceding 
days,  determined  to  shape  my  course  due  north,  and  if 
possible  not  return  again  to  the  lake.  During  the  day  I 
skirted  the  wood,  and  fell  on  some  old  tracks,  which  re- 
vived my  hopes  a  little.  The  country  to  the  westward 
was  chiefly  plains,  covered  with  parched  grass,  and  occa- 
sionally enlivened  by  savannas  of  refreshing  green,  full 
of  wild  flowers  and  aromatic  herbs,  among  which  the  bee 
and  humming-bird  banqueted.  I  slept  this  evening  by  a 
small  brook,  where  I  collected  cherries  and  haws  enough 
to  make  a  hearty  supper.  I  was  obliged  to  make  farther 
encroachments  on  the  legs  of  my  trowsers  for  fresh  band- 
ages for  my  feet.  During  the  night  I  was  serenaded  by 
music  which  did  not  resemble  "  a  concord  of  most  sweet 
sounds;"  in  which  the  grumbling. bass  of  the  bears  was 
at  times  drowned  by  the  less  pleasing  sharps  of  the  wolves. 
I  partially  covered  my  body  this  night  with  some  pieces 
of  pine  bark  which  I  stripped  off  a  sapless  tree. 

The  country  through  which  I  dragged  my  tired  limbs 
on  the  24th  was  thinly  wooded.  My  course  was  north 
and  northeast.  I  suffered  much  from  want  of  water, 
having  got,  during  the  day,  only  two  tepid  and  nause- 
ous draughts  from  stagnant  pools  which  the  long  drought 


MIDNIGHT  WATCHJNGS.  213 

had  nearly  dried  up.  About  sunset  I  arrived  at  a  small 
stream,  by  the  side  of  which  I  took  up  my  quarters  fW 
the  night.  The  dew  fell  heavily ;  but  I  was  too  much 
fatigued  to  go  in  quest  of  bark  to  cover  me ;  and  even 
had  I  been  so  inclined,  the  howling  of  the  wolves  would 
have  deterred  me  from  making  the  dangerous  attempt. 
There  must  have  been  an  extraordinary  nursery  of  these 
animals  close  to  the  spot ;  for  between  the  weak,  shrill 
cries  of  the  young,  and  the  more  loud  and  dreadful 
howling  of  the  old,  I  never  expected  to  leave  the  place 
alive.  I  could  not  sleep.  My  only  weapons  of  defence 
were  a  heap  of  stones  and  a  stick.  Ever  and  anon, 
some  more  daring  than  others  approached  me.  I  pre- 
sented the  stick  at  them,  as  if  in  the  act  of  levelling  a 
gun,  upon  which  they  retired,  vented  a  few  yells,  ad- 
vanced a  little  farther,  and  after  surveying  me  for  some 
time  with  their  sharp,  fiery  eyes,  to  which  the  partial 
glimpses  of  the  moon  had  imparted  additional  ferocity, 
retreated  into  the  wood.  In  this  state  of  fearful  agita- 
tion I  passed  the  night ;  but  as  daylight  began  to  break, 
Nature  asserted  her  supremacy,  and  I  fell  into  a  deep 
sleep,  from  which,  to  judge  by  the  sun,  I  did  not  awake 
until  between  eight  and  nine  o'clock  on  the  morning  of 
the  25th.  My  second  bandages  having  been  worn  out, 
I  was  now  oblfged  to  bare  my  knees  for  fresh  ones  ;  and 
after  tying  them  round  my  feet,  and  taking  a  copious 
draught  from  the  adjoining  brook  for  breakfast,  I  re- 
commenced my  joyless  journey.  My  course  was  nearly 
north-northeast.  I  got  no  water  during  the  day,  nor 
any  of  the  wild  cherries.  Some  slight  traces  of  men's 
feet,  and  a  few  old  horse  tracks  occasionally  crossed  my 


214  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

path:  they  proved  that  human  beings  sometimes,  at 
least,  visited  that  part  of  the  country,  and  for  a  moment 
served  to  cheer  my  drooping  spirits. 

About  dusk,  an  immense  sized  wolf  rushed  out  of  a 
thick  copse,  a  short  distance' from  the  pathway,  planted 
himself  directly  before  me,  in  a  threatening  position, 
and  appeared  determined  to  dispute  my  passage.  He 
was  not  more  than  twenty  feet  from  me.  My  situation 
was  desperate,  and  as  I  knew  that  the  least  symptom  of 
fear  would  be  the  signal  for  attack,  I  presented  my 
stick,  and  shouted  as  loud  as  my  weak  voice  would  per- 
mit. He  appeared  somewhat  startled,  and  retreated  a 
few  steps,  still  keeping  his  piercing  eyes  firmly  fixed  on 
me.  I  advanced  a  little,  when  he  commenced  howling 
in  a  most  appalling  manner ;  and  supposing  his  inten- 
tion was  to  collect  a  few  of  his  comrades  to  assist  in 
making  an  afternoon  repast  on  my  half-famished  carcass, 
I  redoubled  my  cries,  until  I  had  almost  lost  the  power 
of  utterance,  at  the  same  time  calling  out  various  names, 
thinking  I  might  make  it  appear  I  was  not  alone.  An 
old  and  a  young  lynx  ran  close  past  me,  but  did  not  stop. 
The  wolf  remained  about  fifteen  minutes  in  the  same 
position ;  but  whether  my  wild  and  fearful  exclamations 
deterred  any  others  from  joining  him,  I  cannot  say. 
Finding  at  length  my  determination  not  to  flinch,  and 
that  no  assistance  was  likely  to  come  he  retreated  into 
the  wood,  and  disappeared  in  the  surrounding  gloom. 

The  shades  of  night  were  now  descending  fast,  when 
I  came  to  a  verdant  spot,  surrounded  by  small  trees, 
and  full  of  rushes,  which  induced  me  to  hope  for  water ; 
but  after  searching  for  some  time,  I  was  still  doomed  to 


APPALLING  SITUATION.  215 

brtter  disappointment.  A  shallow  lake  or  pond  had 
been,  there,  which  the  long  drought  and  heat  had  dried 
up.  I  then  pulled  a  quantity  of  the  rushes  and  spread 
them  at  the  foot  of  a  large  stone,  which  I  intended  for 
my  pillow,  but  as  I  was  about  throwing  myself  down,  a 
rattlesnake  coiled,  with  the  head  erect,  and  the  forked 
tongue  extended  in  a  state  of  frightful  oscillation,  caught 
my  eye  immediately  under  the  stone.  I  instantly  re- 
treated a  short  distance ;  but  assuming  fresh  courage, 
soon  despatched  it  with  my  stick.  On  examining  the 
spot  more  minutely,  a  large  cluster  of  them  appeared 
under  the  stone,  the  whole  of  which  I  rooted  out  and 
destroyed.  This  was  hardly  accomplished,  when  up- 
wards of  a  dozen  snakes  of  different  descriptions,  chiefly 
dark  brown,  blue,  and  green,  made  their  appearance ; 
they  were  much  quicker  in  their  movements  than  their 
rattletailed  brethren,  and  I  could  only  kill  a  few  of 
them. 

This  was  a  peculiarly  soul-trying  moment.  I  had 
tasted  no  fruit  since  the  morning  before,  and  after  a 
painful  day's  march,  under  a  burning  sun,  could  not 
procure  a  drop  of  water  to  allay  my  feverish  thirst.  I 
was  surrounded  by  a  murderous  brood  of  serpents,  and 
ferocious  beasts  of  prey,  and  without  even  the  consola- 
tion of  knowing  when  such  misery  might  have  a  proba- 
ble termination.  I  might  truly  say,  with  the  royal 
psalmist,  that  "  the  snares  of  death  compassed  me  round 
about." 

Having  collected  a  fresh  supply  of  rushes,  which  I 
spread  some  distance  from  the  spot  where  I  massacred 
the  reptiles,  I  threw  myself  on  them,  and  was  permitted, 


• 
216  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

through  Divine  goodness,  to  enjoy  a  night  of  undisturbed 
repose. 

I  arose  on  the  morning  of  the  26th  considerably  re- 
freshed, and  took  a  northerly  course,  occasionally  di- 
verging a  little  to  the  east.  Several  times  during  the 
day,  I  was  induced  to  leave  the  path,  by  the  appearance 
of  rushes,  which  I  imagined  grew  in  the  vicinity  of 
lakes,  but  on  reaching  them,  my  faint  hopes  vanished  •. 
there  was  no  water,  and  I  in  vain  essayed  to  extract  a 
little  moisture  from  them.  Prickly  thorns  and  small 
sharp  stones  added  greatly  to  the  pain  of  my  tortured 
feet,  and  obliged  me  to  make  farther  encroachments  on 
my  nether  garments  for  fresh  bandages.  The  want  of 
water  now  rendered  me  extremely  weak  and  feverish, 
and  I  had  nearly  abandoned  all  hopes  of  relief,  when, 
about  half-past  four  or  five  o'clock,  the  old  pathway 
turned  from  the  prairie  grounds  into  a  thickly  wooded 
country,  in  an  easterly  direction ;  through  which  I  had 
not  advanced  half  a  mile,  when  I  heard  a  noise  resem- 
bling a  waterfall,  to  which  I  hastened  my  tottering  steps, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  was  delighted  at  arriving  on  the 
banks  of  a  deep  and  narrow  rivulet,  which  forced  its 
way  with  great  rapidity  over  some  large  stones  that  ob- 
structed the  channel. 

After  offering  up  a  short  prayer  of  thanksgiving  for 
this  providential  supply,  I  threw  myself  into  the  water, 
forgetful  of  the  extreme  state  of  exhaustion  to  which  I 
was  reduced :  it  had  nearly  proved  fatal,  for  my  weak 
frame  could  not  withstand  the  strength  of  the  current,e 
which  forced  me  down  a  short  distance,  until  I  caught 
the  bough  of  an  overhanging  tree,  by  means  of  which  I 


AWKWARD   RENCOUNTER.  217 

regained  the  shore.  Here  were  plenty  of  hips  and 
cherries;  on  which,  witk  the  water,  I  made  a  most  de- 
licious repast.  On  looking  about  for  a  place  to  sleep,  I 
observed  lying  on  the  ground  the  hollow  trunk  of  a  large 
pine,  which  had  been  destroyed  by  lightning.  I  re- 
treated into  the  cavity;  and  having  covered  myself 
completely  with  large  pieces  of  loose  bark,  quickly 
fell  asleep.  My  repose  was  not  of  long  duration ;  for 
at  the  end  of  about  two  hours  I  was  awakened  by  the 
growling  of  a  bear,  which  had  removed  part  of  the  bark 
covering,  and  was  leaning  over  me  with  his  snout,  hesi- 
tating as  to  the  means  he  should  adopt  to  dislodge  me ; 
the  narrow  limits  of  the  trunk  which  confined  my  body 
preventing  him  from  making  the  attack  with  advantage. 
I  instantly  sprung  up,  seized  my  stick,  and  uttered  a 
loud  cry,  which  startled  him,  and  caused  him  to  recede 
a  few  steps,  when  he  stopped  and  turned  about,  appa- 
rently doubtful  whether  he  would  commence  an  attack. 
He  determined  on  an  assault;  but  feeling  I  had  not 
sufiicient  strength  to  meet  such  an  unequal  enemy,  I 
thought  it  prudent  to  retreat,  and  accordingly  scrambled 
up  an  adjoining  tree.  My  flight  gave  fresh  impulse  to 
his  courage,  and  he  commenced  ascending  after  me.  I 
succeeded,  however,  in  gaining  a  branch,  which  gave  me 
a  decided  advantage  over  him ;  and  from  which  I  was 
enabled  to  annoy  his  muzzle,  and  claws  in  such  a  manner 
with  my  stick,  as  effectually  to  check  his  progress. 
After  scraping  the  bark  some  time  with  rage  and  disap- 
pointment, he  gave  up  the  task  and  retired  to  my  late 
dormitory,  of  which  he  took  possession.  The  fear  of 
falling  off,  in  case  I  was  overcome  by  sleep,  induced  me 


218  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

to  make  several  attempts  to  descend:  but  each  attempt, 
aroused  my  ursine  sentinel;  and  after  many  ineffectual 
efforts,  I  was  obliged  to  remain  there  during  the  rest  of 
the  night.  I  fixed  myself  in  that  part  of  the  trunk 
from  which  the  principal  grand  branches  forked,  and 
which  prevented  me  from  falling  during  my  fitful  slum- 
bers. 

On  the  morning  of  the  27th,  a  little  after  sunrise,  the 
bear  quitted  the  trunk,  shook  himself,  "cast  a  longing, 
lingering  look"  towards  me,  and  slowly  disappeared  in 
search  of  his  morning  repast.  After  waiting  some  time, 
apprehensive  of  his  return,  I  descended  and  resumed 
my  journey  through  the  woods,  in  a  north-northeast 
direction.  In  a  few  hours,  all  my  anxiety  of  the  pre- 
ceding night  was  more  than  compensated,  by  falling  in 
with  a  well-beaten  horse-path,  with  fresh  traces  on  it, 
both  of  hoofs  and  human  feet;  it  lay  through  a  clear 
open  wood,  in  a  northeast  course,  in  which  I  observed 
numbers  of  small  deer.  About  six  in  the  evening,  I 
arrived  at  a  spot  where  a  party  must  have  slept  the  pre- 
ceding night.  Round  the  remains  of  a  large  fire  which 
was  still  burning,  were  scattered  several  half-picked 
bones  of  grouse,  partridges,  and  ducks,  all  of  which  I 
collected  with  economical  industry.  After  devouring 
the  flesh,  I  broiled  the  bones.  The  whole  scarcely 
sufficed  to  give  me  a  moderate  meal,  but  yet  afforded  a 
most  seasonable  relief  to  my  famished  body.  I  enjoyed 
a  comfortable  sleep  this  night,  close  to  the  fire,  uninter- 
rupted by  any  nocturnal  visiter;  On  the  morning  of  the 
28th,  I  set  off  with  cheerful  spirits,  fully  impressed  with 
the  hope  of  a  speedy  termination  to  my  sufferings.  My 


HOPE   RENEWED.  219 

course  was  northerly,  and  lay  through  a  thick  wood. 
Late  in  the  evening,  I  arrived  at  a  stagnant  pool,  from 
which  I  merely  moistened  my  lips ;  and  having  covered 
myself  with  some  birch  bark,  slept  by  its  side.  The 
bears  and  wolves  occasionally  serenaded  me  during  the 
night,  but  I  did  not  see  any  of  them.  I  rose  early  on 
the  morning  of  the  29th,  and  followed  the  fresh  traces 
all  day,  through  the  wood,  nearly  northeast  by  north. 
I  observed  several  deer,  some  of  which  came  quite  close 
to  me ;  and  in  the  evening  I  threw  a  stone  at  a  small 
animal  resembling  a  hare,  the  leg  of  which  I  broke.  It 
ran  away  limping,  but  my  feet  were  too  sore  to  permit 
me  to  follow  it.  I  passed  the  night  by  the  side  of  a 
small  stream,  where  I  got  a  sufficient  supply  of  hips  and 
cherries.  A  few  distant  growls  awoke  me  at  intervals, 
but  no  animal  appeared.  On  the  30th,  the  path  took  a 
more  easterly  turn,  and  the  woods  became  thicker  and 
more  gloomy.  I  had  now  nearly  consumed  the  remnant 
of  my  trousers,  in  bandages  for  my  wretched  feet;  and, 
with  the  exception  of  my  shirt,  was  almost  naked.  The 
horse-tracks  every  moment  appeared  more  fresh,  and  fed 
my  hopes.  Late  in  the  evening,  I  arrived  at  a  spot 
where  the  path  branched  off  in  different  directions ;  one 
led  up  rather  a  steep  hill,  the  other  descended  into  a 
valley,  and  the  tracks  on  both  were  equally  recent.  I 
took  the  higher;  but  after  proceeding  a  few  hundred 
paces  through  a  deep  wood,  which  appeared  more  dark 
from  the  thick  foliage  which  shut  out  the  rays  of  the 
sun,  I  returned,  apprehensive  of  not  procuring  water 
for  my  supper,  and  descended  the  lower  path.  I  had 
not  advanced  far,  when  I  imagined  I  heard  the  neighing 


220  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE   WEST. 

of  a  horse.  I  listened  with  breathless  attention,  and 
became  convinced  it  was  no  illusion.  A  few  paces  farther 
brought  me  in  sight  of  several  of  those  noble  animals, 
sporting  in  a  handsome  meadow,  from  which  I  was  sepa- 
rated by  a  rapid  stream.  With  some  difficulty  I  crossed 
over,  and  ascended  the  opposite  bank.  One  of  the 
horses  approached  me:  I  thought  him  the  "prince  of 
palfreys ;  his  neigh  was  like  the  bidding  of  a  monarch, 
and  his  countenance  enforced  homage." 

On  advancing  a  short  distance  into  the  meadow,  the 
cheering  sight  of  a  small  column  of  gracefully  curling 
smoke,  announced  my  vicinity  to  human  beings,  and  in 
a  moment  after, -two  Indian  women  perceived  me:  they 
instantly  fled  to  a  hut  which  appeared  at  the  farther  end 
of  the  meadow.  This  movement  made  me  doubt  whether 
I  had  arrived  among  friends  or  enemies ;  but  my  appre- 
hensions were  quickly  dissipated  by  the  approach  of  two 
men,  who  came  running  to  me  in  the  most  friendly  man- 
ner. On  seeing  the  lacerated  state  of  my  feet,  they 
carried  me  in  their  arms  to  a  comfortable  dwelling,  cov- 
ered with  deer  skins.  To  wash  and  dress  my  torn  limbs, 
roast  some  roots,  and  boil  a  small  salmon,  seemed  but 
the  business  of  a  moment.  After  returning  thanks  to 
that  great  and  good  Being  in  whose  hands  are  the  issues 
of  life  and  death,  and  who  had  watched  over  my  wan- 
dering steps,  and  rescued  me  from  the  many  perilous 
dangers  I  encountered,  I  sat  down  to  my  salmon,  of 
which  it  is  needless  to  say  I  made  a  hearty  supper. 

The  family  consisted  of  an  elderly  man,  and  his  son, 
with  their  wives  and  children.  I  collected  from  their 
signs  that  they  were  aware  of  my  being  lost,  and  that 


PLEASURES   OF   SOCIETY.  221 

they,  with  other  Indians  and  white  men,  had  been  out 
several  days  scouring  the  woods  and  plains  in  search  of 
me.  I  also  understood  from  them  that  our  party  had 
arrived  at  their  destination,  which  was  only  a  few  hours' 
march  from  their  habitation.  They  behaved  to  ine  with 
affectionate  solicitude;  and  while  the  old  wom'an  was 
carefully  dressing  my  feet,  the  men  were  endeavoring  to 
make  me  comprehend  their  meaning.  I  had  been  four- 
teen days  in  a  wilderness  without  holding  "  communion 
kind"  with  any  human  being;  and  I  need  not  say  I 
listened  with  a  thousand  times  more  real  delight  to  the 
harsh  and  guttural  voices  of  those  poor  Indians,  than 
was  ever  experienced  by  the  most  enthusiastic  admirer 
of  melody  from  the  thrilling  tones  of  a  Catalani,  or  the 
melting  sweetness  of  a  Stephens.  As  it  was  too  late, 
after  finishing  my  supper,  to  proceed  farther  that  night, 
I  retired  to  rest  on  a  comfortable  couch  of  buffalo  and 
deer  skins.  I  slept  soundly :  and  the  morning  of  the 
31st  was  far  advanced  before  I  awoke.  After  break- 
fasting on  the  remainder  of  the  salmon,  I  prepared  to 
join  my  white  friends.  A  considerable  stream,  about 
ninety  yards  broad,  called  Coeur  d'  Alene  river,  flowed 
close  to  the  hut.  The  old  man  and  his  son  accompanied 
me.  We  crossed  the  river  in  a  canoe ;  after  which  they 
brought  over  three  horses,  and  having  enveloped  my 
body  in  an  Indian  mantle  of  deer  skin,  we  mounted,  and 
set  off  at  a  smart  trot  in  an  easterly  direction.  We  had 
not  proceeded  more  than  seven  miles,  when  I  felt  the 
bad  effects  of  having  eaten  so  much  salmon  after  so  long 
a  fast.  I  had  a  severe  attack  of  indigestion,  and  for 
two  hours  suffered  extreme  agony ;  and,  but  for  the  great 


222  HUNTING    SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

attention  of  the  kind  Indians,  I  think  it  would  have 
proved  fatal.  About  an  hour  after  recommencing  our 
journey  we  arrived  in  a  clear  wood,  in  which,  with  joy 
unutterable,  I  observed  our  Canadians  at  work  hewing 
timber.  I  rode  between  the  two  natives.  One  of  our 
men,  named  Fra^ois  Gardepie,  who  had  been  on  a 
trading  excursion,  joined  us  on  horseback.  My  deer 
skin  robe  and  sunburnt  features  completely  set  his 
powers  of  recognition  at  defiance,  and  he  addressed  me 
as  an  Indian.  I  replied  in  French,  by  asking  him  how 
all  our  people  were.  Poor  Francois  appeared  electrified, 
exclaimed  "Sainte  Vierge!"  and  galloped  into  the  wood, 
vociferating,  "  0  mes  amis!  mes  amis!  ilesttrouv£! — 
Oui,  oui,  il  est  trouve!" — "  Qui?  qui?"  asked  his  com- 
rades. "  Monsieur  Qox  !  Monsieur  Cox  !"  replied  Fran- 
cois. "  Le  voild!  le  voild!"  pointing  towards  me. 
Away  went  saws,  hatchets,  and  axes,  and  each  man 
rushed  forward  to  the  tents,  where  we  had  by  this  time 
arrived.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  our  astonishment 
and  delight  at  my  miraculous  escape  were  mutual.  The 
friendly  Indians  were  liberally  rewarded ;  the  men  were 
allowed  a  holiday,  and  every  countenance  bore  the  smile 
of  joy  and  happiness. 


HUNTING    ON  THE  COLUMBIA  RIVER.  223 


HUNTING  ON  THE  COLUMBIA  RIVER. 

IN  the  great  plains  on  the  east  side  of  the  Columbia, 
says  Mr.  Ross  Cox,  between  Oakinagan  and  the  Spokan 
lands,  there  are,  during  the  autumnal  months,  plenty  of 
deer,  grouse,  wild  ducks,  and  geese. 

I  spent  a  great  portion  of  this  period  with  a  few  of  my 
men  and  some  Indians,  on  shooting  excursions,  and  had 
excellent  sport. 

We  stopped  one  very  sultry  day  about  noon  to  rest  our 
horses,  and  enjoy  the  cooling  shade  afforded  by  a  clump 
of  sycamore-trees  with  a  refreshing  draught  from  an  ad- 
joining spring.  Several  large  hawks  were  flying  about 
the  spot,  two  of  which  we  brought  down.  From  their 
great  size,  immense  claws,  and  large  hooked  beaks,  they 
could  have  easily  carried  off  a  common-sized  duck  or 
goose.  Close  to  our  resting-place  was  a  small  hill,  round 
the  top  of  which  I  observed  the  hawks  assemble,  and 
judging  that  a  nest  was  there,  without  communicating 
my  intention  to  any  of  the  party,  I  determined  to  find  it 
out. 

I  therefore  cautiously  ascended  the  eminence,  on  the 
summit  of  which  I  perceived  a  nest  larger  than  a  com- 
mon-sized market-basket,  formed  of  branches  of  trees, 
one  laid  regularly  over  the  other,  and  the  least  of  which 
an  inch  in  circumference.  Around  it  were  scattered 
bones,  skeletons,  and  half-mangled  bodies  of  pigeons, 
sparrows,  humming-birds,  &c.  Next  to  a  rattlesnake 
and  shark,  my  greatest  aversion  is  a  hawk ;  and  on  this 
occasion  it  was  not  diminished  by  observing  the  remains 


224  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE  WEST. 

of  the  feathered  tribe,  which  had,  from  to  time,  fallen  a 
prey  to  their  voracious  appetite.  I  therefore  determined 
to  destroy  the  nest,  and  disperse  its  inhabitants ;  but  I 
had  scarcely  commenced  the  work  of  demolition  with  my 
dagger,  when  old  and  young  flew  out  and  attacked  me 
in  every  direction,  but  particularly  about  my  face  and 
eyes ;  the  latter  of  which,  as  a  punishment  for  my  teme- 
rity, they  seemed  determined  to  separate  from  their 
sockets. 

In  the  mean  time  I  roared  out  lustily  for  assistance, 
and  laid  about  ine  with  the  dagger.  Three  men  promptly 
ran  up  the  hill,  and  called  out  to  me  to  shut  my  eyes, 
and  throw  myself  on  the  ground,  otherwise  I  should  be 
shortly  blinded,  promising  in  the  mean  time  to  assist  me. 
I  obeyed  their  directions ;  and  just  as  I  began  to  kiss  the 
earth,  a  bullet  from  one  of  their  rifles  brought  down  a 
large  hawk,  apparently  the  father  of  the  gang.  He  fell 
close  to  my  neck,  and  in  his  expiring  agonies  made  a 
desperate  bite  at  my  left  ear,  which  I  escaped,  and  in 
return  gave  him  the  coup  de  grace,  by  thrusting  about 
four  inches  of  my  dagger  down  his  throat.  The  death 
of  their  chieftain  was  followed  by  that  of  two  others, 
which  completely  dispersed  them ;  and  we  retired  after 
breaking  up  their  den. 

Red  foxes  and  wolves  are  also  in  great  numbers  about 
the  plains  ;  but  their  skins  are  not  now  purchased  by  the 
Company,  as  the  price  giveto  for  them  would  not  defray 
the  expense  of  their  carriage. 

The  prairie  wolves  are  much  smaller  than  those  which 
inhabit  the  woods.  They  generally  travel  together  in 
numbers,  and  a  solitary  one  is  seldom  met  with.  Two  or 


WOLVES.  225 

three  of  us  have  often  pursued  from  fifty  to  one  hundred, 
driving  them  before  us  as  quickly  as  our  horses  could 
charge. 

Their  skins  are  of  no  value,  and  we  do  not  therefore 
waste  much  powder  and  ball  in  shooting  them.  The  In- 
dians, who  are  obliged  to  pay  dear  for  their  ammunition, 
are  equally  careful  not  to  throw  it  away  on  objects  that 
bring  no  remunerating  value.  The  natural  consequence 
is,  that  the  wolves  are  allowed  to  multiply ;  and  some 
parts  of  the  country  are  completely  overrun  by  them. 
The  Indians  catch  numbers  of  them  in  traps,  which  they 
set  in  the  vicinity  of  those  places  where  their  tame  horses 
are  sent  to  graze.  The  traps  are  merely  excavations 
covered  over  with  slight  switches  and  hay,  and  baited 
with  meat,  &c.,  into  which  the  wolves  fall,  and  being  un- 
able to  extricate  themselves,  they  perish  by  famine,  or 
the  knife  of  the  Indian.  These  destructive  animals  an- 
nually destroy  numbers  of  horses ;  particularly  during 
the  winter  season,  when  the  latter  get  entangled  in  the 
snow ;  in  which  situation  they  become  an  easy  prey  to 
their  light-footed  pursuers,  ten  or  fifteen  of  which  will 
often  fasten  on  one  animal,  and  with  their  long  fangs  in 
a  few  minutes  separate  the  head  from  the  body.  If, 
however,  the  horses  are  not  prevented  from  using  their 
legs,  they  sometimes  punish  the  enemy  severely;  as  an 
instance  of  this,  I  saw  one  morning  the  bodies  of  two  of 
our  horses  which  had  been  killed  the  night  before,  and 
around  were  lying  eight  dead  and  maimed  wolves ;  some 
with  their  brains  scattered  about,  and  others  with  their 

limbs  and  ribs  broken  by  the  hoofs  of  the  furious  animals 
15 


226  HUNTING    SPORTS   OP   THE   WEST. 

in  their  vain  attempts  to  escape  from  their  sanguinary 
assailants. 

While  I  was  at  Spokan  I  went  occasionally  to  the 
horse  prairie,  which  is  nearly  surrounded  by  partially- 
wooded  hills,  for  the  purpose  of  watching  the  manoeuvres 
of  the  wolves  in  their  combined  attacks.  The  first  an- 
nouncement of  iheir  approach  was  a  few  shrill  currish 
barks  at  intervals,  like  the  outpost  firing  of  skirmishing 
parties.  These  were  answered  by  similar  barking  from 
an  opposite  direction,  until  the  sounds  gradually  approxi- 
mated, and  at  length  ceased  on  the  junction  of  the  dif- 
ferent parties.  We  prepared  our  guns,  and  concealed 
ourselves  behind  a  thick  cover.  In  the  mean  time,  the 
horses,  sensible  of  the  approaching  danger,  began  to  paw 
the  ground,  snort,  toss  up  their  heads,  look  wildly  about 
them,  and  exhibit  all  the  symptoms  of  fear.  One  or  two 
stallions  took  the  lead,  and  appeared  to  wait  with  a  de- 
gree of  comparative  composure  for  the  appearance  of  the 
enemy. 

The  allies  at  length  entered  the  field  in  a  semicircular 
form,  with  their  flanks  extended  for  the  evident  purpose 
of  surrounding  their  prey.  They  were  between  two  and 
three  hundred  strong.  The  horses,  on  observing  their 
movement,  knew  from  experience  its  object,  and  dreading 
to  encounter  so  numerous  a  force,  instantly  turned  round, 
and  galloped  off  in  a  contrary  direction.  Their  flight 
was  the  signal  for  the  wolves  to  advance ;  and  immedi- 
ately uttered  a  simultaneous  yell,  they  charged  after  the 
fugitives,  still  preserving  their  crescent  form.  Two  or 
three  of  the  horses,  which  were  not  in  the  best  condition, 
were  quickly  overtaken  by  the  advanced  guard  of  the 


HORSES  ATTACKED.  227 

enemy.  The  former,  finding  themselves  unable  to  keep 
up  with  the  band,  commenced  kicking  at  their  pursuers, 
several  of  which  received  some  severe  blows ;  but  these 
being  reinforced  by  others,  they  would  have  shortly  des- 
patched the  horses  had  not  we,  just  in  time,  emerged 
from  our  place  of  concealment,  and  discharged  a  volley 
at  the  enemy's  centre,  by  which  a  few  were  brought  down. 
The  whole  battalion  instantly  wheeled  about,  and  fled  to- 
wards the  hills  in  the  utmost  disorder ;  while  the  horses, 
on  hearing  the  fire,  changed  their  course  and  galloped  up 
to  us.  Our  appearance  saved  several  of  them  from  the 
fangs  of  their  foes ;  and  by  their  neighing  they  seemed 
to  express  their  joy  and  gratitude  at  our  timely  inter- 
ference. 

Although  the  wolves  of  North  America  are  the  most 
daring  of  all  the  beasts  of  prey  on  that  continent,  they 
are  by  no  means  so  courageous  or  ferocious  as  those  of 
Europe,  particularly  in  Spain  or  the  south  of  France, 
in  which  countries  they  commit  dreadful  ravages,  both 
on  man  and  beast  :*  whereas,  an  American  wolf,  except 
forced  by  desperation,  will  seldom  or  never  attack  a  hu- 

*  During  the  late  Peninsular  war,  the  Duke  of  Wellington  had  oc- 
casion to  send  despatches  by  a  mounted  dragoon,  to  a  general  of  di- 
vision not  quite  a  day's  march  distant  from  headquarters.  The 
answer  not  having  arrived  at  the  period  it  was  expected,  his  Grace 
despatched  three  others  to  ascertain  the  cause.  They  found  the 
mangled  remains  of  their  unfortunate  comrade  lying  beside  those  of 
his  horse,  and  the  greater  portion  of  the  flesh  eaten  off  their  bodies. 
His  sword  was  firmly  grasped  in  his  mutilated  hand,  and  the  dead 
carcasses  of  seven  or  eight  wolves  which  lay  about  him,  exhibited 
strong  marks  of  the  sabre,  and  of  the  desperation  with  which  he 
fought  before  he  was  overpowered  by  numbers. 


228  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE   WEST. 

man  being ;  a  remarkable  instance  of  which  is  men- 
tioned in  the  detail  of  my  wanderings  in  the  previous 
article.  The  lynxes  are  by  no  means  so  numerous  as 
the  wolves,  but  they  are  equally  destructive,  and  indi- 
vidually more  daring.  They  generally  travel  alone,  or 
in  couples,  and  seldom  fly  as  the  wolves  do  on  the  first 
approach  of  man.  The  largest  American  lynx,  does  not 
exceed  in  size,  an  English  mastiff. 

Bears  are  scarce  about  the  plains,  but  they  are  found 
in  considerable  numbers  in  the  vicinity  of  the  woods  and 
lakes.  Their  flesh  is  excellent,  particularly  in  the  sum- 
mer and  autumnal  months,  when  roots  and  wild  fruit  are 
had  in  abundance.  They  are  most  dangerous  animals 
to  encounter,  especially  if  they  are  slightly  wounded,  or 
that  any  of  their  cubs  are  in  danger,  in  which  case,  they 
will  rush  on  a  man,  though  he  were  armed  at  all  points ; 
and  wo  to  him  if  Bruin  should  once  enfold  him  in  his 
dreadful  grasp. 

I  have  seen  several  of  our  hunters,  as  well  as  many 
Indians,  who  had  been  dreadfully  lacerated  in  their  en- 
counters with  bears ;  some  have  been  deprived  of  their 
ears,  others  had  their  noses  nearly  torn  off,  and  a  few 
have  been  completely  blinded. 

From  the  scarcity  of  food  in  the  spring  months,  they 
are  then  more  savage  than  at  any  other  season,  and 
during  that  period  it  is  a  highly  dangerous  experiment 
to  approach  them. 

The  following  anecdote  will  prove  this,  and,  were  not 
the  fact  confirmed  by  the  concurrent  testimony  of  ten 
more,  I  would  not  have  given  it  a  place  among  my  me- 
morabilia. 


KIDNAPPING.  229 

Jli  the  spring  of  this  year,  (1816)  Mr.  M'Millan  had 
despatched  ten  Canadians  in  a  canoe,  down  the  Flat- 
head  river,  on  a  trading  excursion.  The  third  evening 
after  quitting  the  fort,  while  they  were  quietly  sitting 
round  a  blazing  fire,  eating  a  hearty  dinner  of  deer,  a 
large  half-famished  bear  cautiously  approached  the  group, 
from  behind  an  adjacent  tree ;  and  before  they  were 
aware  of  his  presence,  he  sprang  across  the  fire,  seized 
one  of  the  men  (who  had  a  well-furnished  bone  in  his 
hand)  round  his  waist,  with  the  two  fore  paws,  and  ran 
about  fifty  yards  with  him  on  his  hind  legs,  before  he 
stopped.  His  comrades  were  so  thunderstruck,  at  the 
unexpected  appearance  of  such  a  visitor,  and  his  sudden 
retreat  with  pauvre  Louisson,  that  they  for  some  time 
lost  all  presence  of  mind ;  and,  in  a  state  of  fear  and 
confusion,  were  running  to  and  fro,  each  expecting  in 
his  turn  to  be  kidnapped  in  a  similar  manner ;  when  at 
length,  Baptiste  Le  Blanc,  a  half-breed  hunter,  seized 
his  gun,  and  was  in  the  act  of  firing  at  the  bear,  but 
was  stopped  by  some  of  the  others,  who  told  him  he 
would  inevitably  kill  their  friend,  in  the  position  in 
which  he  was  then  placed.  During  this  parley  bruin  re- 
laxed his  grip  of  the  captive,  whom  he  kept  securely 
under  him,  and  very  leisurely  began  picking  the  bone 
"which  the  latter  had  dropped.  Once  or  twice  Louisson 
attempted  to  escape,  which  only  caused  the  bear  to  watch 
him  more  closely ;  but  on  his  making  another  attempt,  he 
again  seized  Louisson  round  the  waist,  and  commenced 
giving  him  one  of  those  infernal  embraces  which  gene- 
rally end  in  death.  The  poor  fellow  was  now  in  great 
agony,  and  vented  the  most  frightful  screams ;  and  ob- 


230  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

serving  Baptiste  with  his  gun  ready,  anxiously  watching 
a  safe  opportunity  'to  fire,  lie  cried  out,  Tire  !  tire  !  mon 
cher  frere,  si  tu  m'aimes.  Tire,  pour  I' amour  du  bon 
Dieu  !  A  la  tete  !  a  la  tete  !  This  was  enough  for  Le 
Blanc,  who  instantly  let  fly,  and  hit  the  bear  over  the 
right  temple.  He  fell,  and  at  the  same  moment  dropped 
Louisson ;  but  he  gave  him  an  ugly  scratch  with  his 
claws  across  the  face,  which  for  some  time  afterwards 
spoiled  his  beauty.  After  the  shot,  Le  Blanc  darted  to 
his  comrade's  assistance,  and  with  his  couteau  de  chasse, 
quickly  finished  the  sufferings  of  the  man-stealer,  and 
rescued  his  friend  from  impending  death;  for,  with  the 
exception  of  the  above-mentioned  scratch,  he  escaped 
uninjured.  They  commenced  the  work  of  dissection  with 
right  good  will ;  but  on  skinning  the  bear,  they  found 
scarcely  any  meat  on  his  bones ;  in  fact  the  animal  had 
been  famishing,  and  in  a  fit  of  hungry  desperation,  made 
one  of  the  boldest  attempts  at  kidnapping  ever  heard 
of  in  the  legends  of  ursine  courage. 


SHOOTING  WILD  TURKEYS. 

WHILST  speaking  of  the  shooting  of  turkeys,  says  Mr. 
Audubon,  I  feel  no  hesitation  in  relating  the  following 
occurrence,  which  happened  to  myself.  While  in  search 
of  game,  one  afternoon  late  in  autumn,  when  the  males 
go  together,  and  the  females  are  by  themselves  also,  1 
heard  the  clucking  of  one  of  the  latter,  and  immediately 


SHOOTING  WILD  TURKEYS.  231 

finding  her  perched  on  a  fence,  made  towards  her.  Ad- 
vancing slowly  and  cautiously,  I  heard  the  yelping  notes 
of  some  gobblers,  when  I  stopped  and  listened  in  order 
to  ascertain  the  direction  in  which  they  came.  I  then 
ran  to  meet  the  birds,  hid  myself  by  the  side  of  a  largo 
fallen  tree,  cocked  my  gun,  and  waited  with  impatience  for 
a  good  opportunity.*  The  gobblers  continued  yelping 
in  answer  to  the  female,  which  all  this  while  remained 
on  the  fence.  I  looked  over  the  log,  and  saw  about 
thirty  fine  cocks  advancing  rather  cautiously  towards 
the  very  spot  where  I  lay  concealed.  They  came  so 
near,  that  the  light  in  their  eyes  could  easily  be  per- 
ceived, when  I  fired  one  barrel,  and  killed  three.  The 
rest,  instead  of  flying  off,  fell  a  strutting  around  their 
dead  companions ;  and  had  I  not  looked  on  shooting 
again  as  murder  without  necessity,  I  might  have  secured 
at  least  another.  So  I  showed  myself,  and  marching  to 
the  place  where  the  dead  birds  were,  drove  away  the 
survivors.  I  may  also  mention,  that  a  friend  of  mine 
shot  a  fine  hen,  from  his  horse,  with  a  pistol,  as  the  poor 
thing  was  probably  returning  to  her  nest  to  lay. 

Should  you,  good  uatured  reader,  be  a  sportsman, 
and  now  and  then  have  been  fortunate  in  the  exercise 
of  your  craft,  the  following  incident,  which  I  shall  relate 
to  you  as  I  had  it  from  the  mouth  of  an  honest  farmer, 
may  prove  interesting.  Turkeys  were  very  abundant  in 
his  neighborhood,  and,  resorting  to  his  cornfields,  at  the 
period  when  the  maize  had  just  shot  up  from  the  ground, 
destroyed  great  quantities  of  it.  This  induced  him  to 
e wear  vengeance  against  the  species.  He  cut  a  long 
*  See  vignette  on  the  title  page. 


232  HUNTING  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

trench  in  a  favorable  situation,  put  a  great  quantity  of 
corn  in  it,  and  having  heavily  loaded  a  famous  duck  gun 
of  his,  placed  it  so  as  that  he  could  pull  the  trigger  by 
means  of  a  string,  when  quite  concealed  from  the  birds. 

The  turkeys  soon  discovered  the  corn  in  the  trench, 
and  quickly  disposed  of  it,  at  the  same  time  continuing 
their  ravages  in  the  fields.  He  filled  the  trench  again, 
and  one  day  seeing  it  quite  black  with  the  turkeys, 
whistled  loudly,  on  which  all  the  birds  raised  their 
heads,  when  he  pulled  the  trigger  by  the  long  string 
fastened  to  it.  The  explosion  followed  of  course,  and 
the  turkeys  were  seen  scampering  off  in  all  directions,  in  % 
utter  discomfiture  and  dismay.  On  running  to  the 
trench,  he  found  nine  of  them  extended  in  it.  The  rest 
did  not  consider  it  expedient  to  visit  his  corn  again  for 
that  season. 

During  spring,  turkeys  are  called,  as  it  is  termed,  by 
drawing  the  air  in  a  peculiar  way,  through  one  of  the  se- 
cond joint  bones  of  a  wing  of  that  bird,  which  produces  a 
sound  resembling  the  voice  of  the  female,  on  hearing 
which,  the  male  comes  up,  and  is  shot.  In  managing 
this,  however,  no  fault  must  be  committed,  for  turkeys 
are  quick  in  distinguishing  counterfeit  sounds,  and  when 
half  civilized,  are  very  wary  and  cunning.  I  have 
known  many  to  answer  to  this  kind  of  call,  without 
moving  a  step,  and  thus  entirely  defeat  the  scheme  of 
the  hunter,  who  dared  not  move  from  his  hiding-place, 
lest  a  single  glance  of  the  gobbler's  eye  should  frustrate 
all  further  attempts  to  decoy  them.  Many  are  shot 
when  at  roost,  in  this  season,  by  answering  with  a  roll 


HUNTING  WILD  TURKEYS.  238 

ing  gobble  to  a  sound  in  imitation  of  the  cry  of  the 
Barred  Owl. 

But  the  most  common  method  of  procuring  wild  tur- 
keys is  by  means  of  pens.  These  are  placed  in  parts  of 
the  woods  where  turkeys  have  been  frequently  observed 
to  roost,  and  are  constructed  in  the  following  manner. 
Young  trees  of  four  or  five  inches  diameter  are  cut  down, 
and  divided  into  pieces  of  the  length  of  twelve  or  four- 
teen feet.  Two  of  these  are  laid  on  the  ground  parallel 
to  each  other,  at  a  distance  of  ten  or  twelve  feet.  Two 
other  pieces  are  laid  across  the  ends  of  these,  at  right 
angles  to  them,  and  in  this  manner,  successive  layers 
are  added,  until  the  fabric  is  raised  to  the  height  of 
about  four  feet.  It  is  then  covered  with  similar  pieces 
of  wood,  placed  three  or  four  inches  apart,  and  loaded 
•with  one  or  two  heavy  logs  to  render  the  whole  firm. 
This  done,  a  trench  about  eighteen  inches  in  depth  and 
width,  is  cut  under  one  side  of  the  cage,  into  which  it 
opens  slantingly  and  rather  abruptly.  It  is  continued 
on  its  outside  to  some  distance,  so  as  gradually  to  attain 
the  level  of  the  surrounding  ground.  Over  the  part  of 
this  trench  within  the  pen,  a«nd  close  to  the  wall,  some 
sticks  are  placed  so  as  to  form  a  kind  of  bridge  about  a 
foot  in  breadth.  The  trap  being  now  finished,  the 
owner  places  a  quantity  of  Indian  corn,  in  its  centre,  as 
well  as  in  the  trench,  and  as  he  walks  off,  drops  here 
and  there  a  few  grains  in  the  woods,  sometimes  to  the 
distance  of  a  mile.  This  is  repeated  at  every  visit  to 
the  trap,  after  the  turkeys  have  found  it.  Sometimes 
two  trenches  are  cut,  in  which  case  the  trenches  enter  on 
opposite  sides  of  the  trap,  and  are  both  strewn  with 


234  HUNTING   SPORTS  OP  THE  WEST. 

corn.  No  sooner  has  a  turkey  discovered  the  train  of 
corn,  than  it  communicates  the  circumstance  to  the  flock 
by  a  cluck,  when  all  of  them  come  up,  and  searching  for 
the  grains  scattered  about,  at  length  come  upon  the 
trench,  which  they  follow,  squeezing  themselves  one  af- 
ter another  through  the  passage  under  the  bridge.  In 
this  manner  the  whole  flock  sometimes  enters,  but  more 
commonly  six  or  seven  only,  as  they  are  alarmed  by  the 
least  noise,  even  the  cracking  of  a  tree  in  frosty  weather. 
Those  within,  having  gorged  themselves,  raise  their 
heads  and  try  to  force  their  way  through  the  top  or 
sides  of  the  pen,  passing  and  reptssing  on  the  bridge, 
but  never  for  a  moment  looking  down,  or  attempting  to 
escape  through  the  passage  by  which  they  entered. 
Thus  they  remain  until  the  owner  of  the  trap  arriving, 
closes  the  trench,  and  secures  his  captives.  I  have 
heard  of  eighteen  turkeys  having  been  caught,  in  this 
manner,  at  a  single  visit  to  the  trap.  I  have  had  many 
of  these  pens  myself,  but  never  found  more  than  seven 
in  them  at  a  time.  One  winter  I  kept  an  account  of  the 
produce  of  a  pen  which  I  visited  daily,  and  found  that 
seventy-six  had  been  caught  in  it,  in  about  two  months. 
When  these  birds  are  abundant,  the  owners  of  the  pens 
sometimes  become  satiated  with  their  flesh,  and  neglect 
to  visit  the  pens  for  several  days,  in  some  cases  for 
weeks.  The  poor  captives  thus  perish  for  want  of  food ; 
for,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  they  scarcely  ever  regain 
their  liberty,  by  descending  into  the  trench  and  re- 
tracing their  steps.  I  have  more  than  once  found  four 
or  five,  and  even  teh  dead  in  a  pen,. through  inattention. 
Where  wolves  or  lynxes  are  numerous,  they  are  apt  to 


HUNTING  THE  COUGAR.  235 

secure  the  prize  before  the  owner  of.  the  trap  arrives. 
One  morning,  I  had  the  pleasure  of  securing  in  one  of 
my  pens,  a  fine  black  wolf,  which,  on  seeing  me,  squat- 
ted, supposing  me  to  be  passing  in  another  direction. 


HUNTING  THE   COUGAR* 

THERE  is  an  extensive  Swamp  in  the  section  of  the 
State  of  Mississippi  which  lies  partly  in  the  Choctaw 
territory.  It  commences  at  the  borders  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, at  no  great  distance  from  a  Chickasaw  village, 
situated  near  the  mouth  of  a  creek  known  by  the  name 
of  Vanconnah,  and  partly  inundated  by  the  swellings  of 
several  large  bayous,  the  principal  of  which,  crossing 
the  swamp  in  its  whole  extent,  discharges  its  waters  not 
far  from  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo  river.  This  famous 
bayou  is  called  False  river.  The  swamp  of  which  I  am 
speaking,  follows  the  windings  of  the  Yazoo,  until  the 
latter  branches  off  to  the  northeast,  and  at  this  point 
forms  the  stream  named  Gold  Water  river,  below  which 
the  Yazoo  receives  the  draining  of  another  bayou  in- 
clining towards  the  northwest,  and  intersecting  that 
known  by  the  name  of  False  river,  at  a  short  distance 
from  the  place  where  the  latter  receives  the  waters  of 
the  Mississippi.  This  tedious  account  of  the  situation 
of  the  Swamp,  is  given  with  the  view  of  pointing  it  out 
to  all  students  of  nature  who  may  chance  to  go  that  way, 

*  Audubon's  Ornithological  Biography. 


236  HUNTING    SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

and  whom  I  would  earnestly  urge  to  visit  its  interior,  as 
it  abounds  in  rare  and  interesting  productions :  birds, 
quadrupeds,  and  reptiles,  as  well  as  molluscous  animals, 
many  of  which,  I  am  persuaded,  have  never  been  de- 
scribed. 

In  the  course  of  one  of  my  rambles,  I  chanced  to 
meet  with  a  squatter's  cabin  on  the  banks  of  the  Cold 
Water  river.  In  the  owner  of  this  hut,  like  most  of 
those  adventurous  settlers  in  the  uncultivated  tracts  of 
our  frontier  districts,  I  found  a  person  well  versed  in  the 
chase,  and  acquainted  with  the  habits  of  some  of  the 
larger  species  of  quadrupeds  and  birds.  As  h  j  who  is 
desirous  of  instruction  ought  not  to  disdain  listening  to 
any  one  who  has  knowledge  to  communicate,  however 
humble  may  be  his  lot,  or  however  limited  his  talents, 
I  entered  the  squatter's  cabin,  and  immediately  opened 
a  conversation  with  him  respecting  the  situation  of  the 
swamp,  and  its  natural  productions.  He  told  me  he 
thought  it  the  very  place  I  ought  to  visit,  spoke  of  the 
game  which  it  contained,  and  pointed  to  some  bear  and 
deer  skins,  adding  that  the  individuals  to  which  they  had 
belonged  formed  but  a  small  portion  of  the  number  of 
those  animals  which  he  had  shot  within  it.  My  heart 
swelled  with  delight,  and  on  asking  if  he  would  accom- 
pany me  through  the  great  morass,  and  allow  me  to  be- 
come an  inmate  of  his  humble  but  hospitable  mansion,  I 
was  gratified  to  find  that  he  cordially  assented  to  all  my 
proposals.  So  I  immediately  unstrapped  my  drawing 
materials,  laid  up  my  gun,  and  sat  down  to  partake  of 
the  homely  but  wholesome  fare  intended  for  the  supper 
of  the  squatter,  his  wife,  and  his  two  sons. 


HUNTING  THE   COUGAR.  237 

The  quietness  of  the  evening  seemed  in  perfect  ac- 
cordance with  the  gentle  demeanor  of  the  family.  The 
wife  and  children,  I  more  than  once  thought,  seemed  to 
look  upon  me  as  a  strange  sort  of  person,  going  about, 
as  I  toid  them  I  was,  in  search  of  birds  and  plants ;  and 
were  I  here  to  relate  the  many  questions  which  they  put 
to  me  in  return  for  those  which  I  addressed  to  them,  the 
catalogue  would  occupy  several  pages.  The  husband,  a 
native  of  Connecticut,  had  heard  of  the  existence  of 
such  men  as  myself,  both  in  our  own  country  and  abroad, 
and  seemed  greatly  pleased  to  have  me  under  his  roof. 
Supper  over,  I  asked  my  kind  host  what  had  induced 
him  to  remove  to  this  wild  and  solitary  spot.  "The 
people  are  growing  too  numerous  now  to  thrive  in  New 
England,"  was  his  answer.  I  thought  of  the  state  of 
some  parts  of  Europe,  and  calculating  the  denseness  of 
their  population  compared  with  that  of  New  England, 
exclaimed  to  myself,  "How  much  more  difficult  must  it 
be  for  men  to  thrive  in  those  populous  countries!"  The 
conversation  then  changed,  and  the  squatter,  his  sons 
and  myself,  spoke  of  hunting  and  fishing,  until  at  length 
tired,  we  laid  ourselves  down  on  pallets  of  bear  skins, 
and  reposed  in  peace  on  the  floor  of  the  only  apartment 
of  which  the  hut  consisted. 

Day  dawned,  and  the  squatter's  call  to  his  hogs, 
which,  being  almost  in  a  wild  state,  were  suffered  to 
seek  the  greater  portion  of  their  food  in  the  woods, 
awakened  me.  Being  ready  dressed,  I  was  not  long  in 
joining  him.  The  hogs  and  their  young  came  grunting 
at  tho  well  known  call  of  their  owner,  who  threw  them 
a  few  ears  of  corn,  and  counted  them,  but  told  me  that 


238  HUNTING  SPOKTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

for  some  weeks  their  number  had  been  greatly  diminished 
b  j  the  ravages  committed  upon  them  by  a  large  Panther, 
by  which  name  the  Cougar  is  designated  in  America, 
and  that  the  ravenous  animal  did  not  content  himself 
with  the  flesh  of  his  pigs,  but  now  and  then  carried  off 
one  of  his  calves,  notwithstanding  the  many  attempts 
he  had  made  to  shoot  it.  The  Painter,  as  he  "sometimes 
called  it,  had  on  several  occasions  robbed  him  of  a  dead 
deer;  and  to  these  exploits  the  squatter  added  several 
remarkable  feats  of  audacity  which  it  had  performed,  to 
give  me  an  idea  of  the  formidable  character  of  the  beast. 
Delighted  by  his  description,  I  offered  to  assist  him  in 
destroying  the  enemy,  at  which  he  was  highly  pleased, 
but  assured  me  that  unless  some  of  his  neighbors  should 
join  us  with  their  dogs  and  his  own,  the  attempt  would 
prove  fruitless.  Soon  after,  mounting  a  horse,  he  went 
off  to  his  neighbors,  several  of  whom  lived  at  a  distance 
of  some  miles,  and  appointed  a  day  of  meeting. 

The  hunters,  accordingly,  made  their  appearance,  one 
fine  morning,  at  the  door  of  the  cabin,  just  as  the  sun 
was  emerging  from  beneath  the  horizon.  They  were  five 
in  number,  and  fully  equipped  for  the  chase,  being 
mounted  on  horses,  which  in  some  parts  of  Europe  might 
appear  sorry  nags,  but  which  in  strength,  speed,  and  bot- 
tom, are  better  fitted  for  pursuing  a  cougar  or  a  bear 
through  woods  and  morasses  than  any  in  that  country. 
A  pack  of  large  ugly  curs  were  already  engaged  in  mak- 
ing acquaintance  with  those  of  the  squatter.  He  and 
myself  mounted  his  two  best  horses,  whilst  his  sons  were 
bestriding  others  of  inferior  quality. 

Pew  words  were  uttered  by  the  party  until:  we  had 


HUNTING   THE   COUGAR.  239 

reached  the  edge  of  the  Swamp,  where  it  was  agreed  that 
all  should  disperse  and  seek  for  the  fresh  track  of  the 
Painter,  it  being  previously  settled  that  the  discoverer 
should  blow  his  horn,  and  remain  on  the  spot  until  the 
rest  should  join  him.  In  less  than  an  hour,  the  sound 
of  the  horn  was  clearly  heard,  and,  sticking  close  to  the 
squatter,  off  we  went  through  the  thick  woods,  guided 
only  by  the  now  and  then  repeated  call  of  the  distant 
huntsman.  We  soon  reached  the  spot,  and  in  a  short 
time  the  rest  of  the  party  came  up.  The  best  dog  was 
sent  forward  to  track  the  Cougar,  and  in  a  few  moments 
the  whole  pack  were  observed  diligently  trailing,  and 
bearing  in  their  course  for  the  interior  of  the  Swamp. 
The  rifles  were  immediately  put  in  trim,  and  the  party 
followed  the  dogs,  at  separate  distances,  but  in  sight  of 
each  other,  determined  to  shoot  at  no  other  game  than 
the  Panther. 

The  dogs  soon  began  to  mouth,  and  suddenly  quick- 
ened their  pace.  My  companion  concluded  that  the  beast 
was  on  the  ground,  and  putting  our  horses  to  a  gentle 
gallop,  we  followed  the  curs,  guided  by  their  voices. 
The  noise  of  the  dogs  increased,  when  all  of  a  sudden 
their  mode  of  barking  became  altered,  and  the  squatter, 
urging  me  to  push  on,  told  me  that  the  beast  was  treed, 
by  which  he  meant  that  it  had  got  upon  some  low  branch 
of  a  large  tree  to  rest  for  a  few  moments,  and  that  should 
we  not  succeed  in  shooting  him  when  thus  situated,  we 
might  expect  a  long  chase  of  it.  As  we  approached  the 
spot,  we  all  by  degrees  united  into  a  body,  but  on  seeing 
the  dogs  at  the  foot  of  a  large  tree,  separated  again  and 
galloped  off  to  surround  it. 


240  HUNTING  SPORTS  OP  THE  WEST. 

Each  hunter  now  moved  with  caution,  holding  his  gun 
ready,  and  allowing  the  bridle  to  dangle  on  the  neck  of 
his  horse,  as  it  advanced  slowly  towards  the  dogs.  A 
shot  from  one  of  the  party  was  heard,  on  which  the 
Cougar  was  seen  to  leap  to  the  ground,  and  bound  off 
with  such  velocity  as  to  show  that  he  was  very  unwilling 
to  stand  our  fire  longer.  The  dogs  set  off  in  pursuit  with 
great  eagerness  and  a  deafening  cry.  The  hunter  who 
had  fired  came  up  and  said  that  his  ball  had  hit  the  mon- 
ster, and  had  probably  broken  one  of  his  fore-legs  near 
the  shoulder,  the  only  place  at  which  he  could  aim.  A 
slight  trail  of  blood  was  discovered  on  the  ground,  but 
the  curs  proceeded  at  such  a  rate  that  we  merely  noticed 
this,  and  put  spurs  to  our  horses,  which  galloped  on  to- 
wards the  centre  of  the  Swamp.  One  bayou  was  crossed, 
then  another  still  larger  and  more  muddy ;  but  the  dogs 
were  brushing  forward,  and  as  the  horses  began  to  pant 
at  a  furious  rate,  we  judged  it  expedient  to  leave  them 
and  advance  on  foot.  These  determined  hunters  knew 
th^t  the  Cougar  being  wounded,  would  shortly  ascend 
another  tree,  where  in  all  probability  he  would  remain 
for  a  considerable  time,  and  that  it  would  be  easy  to  fol- 
low the  track  of  the  dogs.  We  dismounted,  took  off  the 
saddles  and  bridles,  set  the  bells  attached  to  the  horses' 
necks  at  liberty  to  jingle,  hoppled  the  animals,  and  left 
them  to  shift  for  themselves. 

Now,  reader,  follow  the  group  marching  through  the 
swamp,  crossing  muddy  pools,  and  making  the  best  of 
their  way  over  fallen  trees  and  amongst  the  tangled  rushes 
that  now  and  then  covered  acres  of  ground.  If  you  are 
a  hunter  yourself,  all  this  will  appear  nothing  to  you;  but 


HUNTING  THE  COUGAR.  241 

if  crowded  assemblies  of  "beauty  and  fashion,"  or  the 
quiet  enjoyment  of  your  "pleasure-grounds,"  alone  de- 
light you,  I  must  mend  my  pen  before  I  attempt  to  give 
you  an  idea  of  the  pleasure  felt  on  such  an  expedition. 

After  marching  for  a  couple  of  hours,  we  again  heard 
the  dogs.  Each  of  us  pressed  forward,  elated  at  the 
thought  of  terminating  the  career  of  the  Cougar.  Some 
of  the  dogs  were  heard  whining,  although  the  greater 
number  barked  vehemently.  We  felt  assured  that  the 
Cougar  was  treed,  and  that  he  would  rest  for  some  time 
to  recover  from  his  fatigue.  As  we  came  up  to  the  dogs, 
we  discovered  the  ferocious  animal  lying  across  a  large 
branch,  close  to  the  trunk  of  a  cotton-wood  tree.  His- 
broad  breast  lay  towards  us ;  his  eyes  were  at  one  time 
bent  on  us  and  again  on  the  dogs  beneath  and  around 
him ;  one  of  his  fore  legs  hung  loosely  by  his  side,  and 
h<5  lay  crouched,  with  his  ears  lowered  close  to  his,  head,  as 
if  he  thought  he  might  remain  undiscovered.  Three  balls 
were  fired  at  him,  at  a  given  signal,  on  which  he  sprang 
a  few  feet  from  the  branch,  and  tumbled  headlong  to  the 
ground.  Attacked  on  all  sides  by  the  enraged  curs,  the 
infuriated  Cougar  fought  with  desperate  valor;  (See 
Frontispiece;}  but  the  squatter  advancing  in  front  of  the 
party,  and  almost  in  the  midst  of  the  dogs,  shot  him  im- 
mediately behind  and  beneath  the  left  shoulder.  The 
Cougar  writhed  for  a  moment  in  agony,  and  in  another 
lay  dead. 

The  sun  was  now  sinking  in  the  west.  Two  of  the 
hunters  separated  from  the  rest,  to  procure  venison, 
whilst  the  squatter's  sons  were  ordered  to  make  the  best 

of  their  way  home,  to  be  ready  to  feed  the  hogs  in  the 
'     16 


242  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE  WEST. 

morning.  The  rest  of  the  party  agreed  to  camp  on  the 
spot.  The  Cougar  was  despoiled  of  its  skin,  and  its  car- 
cass left  to  the  hungry  dogs.  Whilst  engaged  in  preparing 
our  camp,  we  heard  the  report  of  a  gun,  and  soon  after 
one  of  our  hunters  returned  with  a  small  deer.  A  fire 
was  lighted,  and  each  hunter  displayed  his  pone  of  bread, 
along  with  a  flask  of  whisky.  The  deer  was  skinned  in 
a  trice,  and  slices  placed  on  sticks  before  the  fire.  These 
materials  afforded  us  an  excellent  meal,  and  as  the  night 
grew  darker,  stories  and  songs  went  round,  until  my  com- 
panions, fatigued,  laid  themselves  down,  close  under  the 
smoke  of  the  fire,  and  soon  fell  asleep. 

I  walked  for  some  minutes  round  the  camp,  to  contem- 
plate the  beauties  of  that  nature,  from  which  I  have  cer- 
tainly derived  my  greatest  pleasures.  I  thought  of  the 
occurrences  of  the  day,  and  glancing  my  eye  around,  re- 
marked the  singular  effects  produced  by  the  phosphores- 
cent qualities  of  the  large  decayed  trunks  which  lay  in 
all  directions  around  me.  How  easy,  I  thought,  would 
it  be  for  the  confused  and  agitated  mind  of  a  person  be- 
wildered in  a  swamp  like  this,  to  image  in  each  of  these 
luminous  masses  some  wondrous  and  fearful  being,  the 
very  sight  of  which  might  make  their  hair  stand  erect  on 
his  head!  The  thought'of  being  myself  placed  in  such  a 
predicament  burst  over  my  mind,  and  I  hastened  to  join 
my  companions,  beside  whom  I  laid  me  down  and  slept, 
assured  that  no  enemy  could  approach  us  without  first 
rousing  the  dogs,  which  were  growling  in  fierce  dispute 
over  the  remains  of  the  Cougar. 

At  daybreak  we  left  our  camp,  the  squatter  bearing 
on  his  shoulder  the  skin  of  the  late  destroyer  of  his  stock, 


THE  TRAVELER   AND   THE   POLE-CAT.  245 

and  retraced  our  step  until  we  found  our  horses,  which 
had  not  strayed  far  from  the  place  where  we  had  left 
them.  These  we  soon  saddled,  and  jogging  along,  in  a 
direct  course,  guided  by  the  sun,  congratulating  each 
other  on  the  destruction  of  so  formidable  a  neighbor  as 
the  Panther  had  been,  we  soon  arrived  at  my  host's  cabin. 
The  five  neighbors  partook  of  such  refreshment  as  the 
house  could  afford,  and  dispersing,  returned  to  their  homes, 
leaving  me  to  follow  my  favorite  pursuits. 


THE  TRAVELER  AND  THE  POLE-CAT. 

Ox  a  journey  from  Louisville  to  Henderson,  in  Ken- 
tucky, says  Mr.  Audubon,*  performed  during  very 
severe  winter  weather,  in  company  with  a  foreigner,  the 
initials  of  whose  name  are  D.  T.,  my  companion  spying 
a  beautiful  animal,  marked  with  black  and  pale  yellow, 
and  having  a  long  and  bushy  tail,  exclaimed,  "Mr.  Au- 
dubon, is  not  that  a  beautiful  squirrel?"  "  Yes,"  I  an- 
swered, "  and  of  a  kind  that  will  suffer  you  to  approach  it, 
and  lay  hold  of  it,  if  you  are  well  gloved."  Mr.  D.  T.  dis- 
mounting, took  up  a  dry  stick,  and  advanced  toward  the 
pretty  animal,  with  his  large  cloak  floating  in  the  breeze.  I 
think  I  see  him  approach,  and  laying  the  stick  gently 
across  the  body  of  the  animal,  try  to  secure  it;  and  I 
can  yet  laugh  almost  as  heartily  as  I  then  did,  when  I 
plainly  saw  the  discomfiture  of  the  traveler.  The  Pole- 

*  Ornithological  Biography. 


246  HUNTING   SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

cat,*  (for  a  true  Pole-cat  it  was,  the  Mephitis  Americana 
of  zoologists,)  raised  its  fine  bushy  tail,  and  showered 
such  a  discharge  of  the  fluid  given  him  by  nature  as  a 
defence,  that  my  friend,  dismayed  and  infuriated,  began 
to  belabour  the  poor  animal.  The  swiftness  and  good 
management  of  the  Pole-cat,  however,  saved  its  bones, 
and  as  it  made  its  retreat  towards  its  hole,  it  kept  up  at 
every  step  a  continued  ejectment,  which  fully  convinced 
the  gentleman  that  the  pursuit  of  such  squirrels  as  these 
was  at  the  best  an  unprofitable  employment. 

This  was  not  all,  however.  I  could  not  suffer  his  ap- 
proach, nor  could  my  horse ;  it  was  with  difficulty  he 
mounted  his  own;  and  we  were  forced  to  continue  our 
journey  far  asunder,  and  he  much  to  leeward.  Nor  did 
the  matter  end  here.  We  could  not  proceed  much 
farther  that  night;  as,  in  the  first  place,  it  was  nearly 
dark  when  we  saw  the  Pole-cat,  and  as,  in  the  second 
place,  a  heavy  snow-storm  began,  and  almost  impeded 
our  progress.  We  were  forced  to  make  for  the  first 
cabin  we  saw.  Having  asked  and  obtained  permission 
to  rest  for  the  night,  we  dismounted  and  found  ourselves 
amongst  a  crowd  of  men  and  women  who  had  met  for 
the  purpose  of  corn-shucking. 

To  a  European  who  has  not  visited  the  western  part 
of  the  United  States,  an  explanation  of  this  corn-shuck- 
ing may  not  be  unacceptable.  Corn  (or  you  may  prefer 
calling  it  maize)  is  gathered  in  the  husk,  that  is,  by 
breaking  each  large  ear  from  the  stem.  These  ears  are 
first  thrown  into  heaps  in  the  field,  and  afterwards  car- 
ried in  carts  to  the  barn,  or,  as  in  this  instance,  and  in 
*  In  most  parts  of  the  country,  this  animal  is  called  Skunk. 


THE  TRAVELER  AND   THE   POLE-CAT.  247 

such  portions  of  Kentucky,  to  a  shed  made  of  the  blades 
or  long  leaves  that  hang  in  graceful  curves  from  the 
stalk,  and  which,  when  plucked  and  dried,  are  used  in- 
stead of  hay,  as  food  for  horses  and  cattle.  The  husk 
consists  of  several  thick  leaves  rather  longer  than  the 
corn-ear  itself,  and  which  secure  it  from  the  weather. 
It  is  quite  a  labor  to  detach  these  leaves  from  the  ear, 
when  thousands  of  bushels  of  the  corn  are  gathered  and 
heaped  together.  For  this  purpose,  however,  and  in  the 
western  country  more  especially,  several  neighboring 
families  join  alternately  at  each  other's  plantations,  and 
assist  in  clearing  away  the  husks,  thus  preparing  the 
maize  for  the  market  or  for  domestic  use. 

The  good  people  whom  we  met  with  at  this  hospitable 
house,  were  on  the  point  of  going  to  the  barn,  (the 
farmer  here  being  in  rather  good  condition,)  to  work 
until  towards  the  middle  of  the  night.  When  we  had 
stood  the  few  stares  to  which  strangers  must  accustom 
themselves,  no  matter  where,  even  in  a  drawing-room, 
we  approached  the  fire.  What  a  shock  for  the  whole 
party !  The  scent  of  the  Pole-cat,  that  had  been  almost 
stifled  on  my  companion's  vestments  by  the  cold  of  the 
evening  air,  now  recovered  its  primitive  strength.  The 
cloak  was  put  out  of  the  house,  but  its  owner  could  not 
be  well  used  in  the  same  way.  The  company,  however, 
took  to  their  heels,  and  there  only  remained  a  single 
black  servant,  who  waited  on  us  until  suppdr  was 
served. 

I  felt  vexed  at  myself,  as  I  saw  the  traveler  displeased. 
But  he  had  so  much  good  breeding  as  to  treat  this  im- 
portant affair  with  great  forbearance,  and  merely  said 


248  HUNTING  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

he  was  sorry  for  his  want  of  knowledge  in  zoology. 
The  good  gentleman,  however,  was  not  only  deficient  in 
zoological  lore,  but,  fresh  as  he  was  from  Europe,  felt 
more  than  uneasy  in  this  out-of-the-way  dwelling,  and 
would  have  proceeded  towards  my  own  house  that  nightj 
had  I  not  at  length  succeeded  in  persuading  him  that  he 
was  in  perfect  security. 

We  were  shown  to  bed.  As  I  was  almost  a  stranger 
to  him,  and  he  to  me,  he  thought  it  a  very  awkward  thing 
to  be  obliged  to  lie  in  the  same  bed  with  me,  but  after- 
wards spoke  of  it  as  a  happy  circumstance,  and  requested 
that  I  should  suffer  him  to  be  placed  next  the  logs, 
thinking,  no  doubt,  that  there  he  should  run  no  risk. 

We  started  by  break  of  day,  taking  with  us  the  frozen 
cloak,  and  after  passing  a  pleasant  night  in  my  own 
house,  we  parted.  Some  years  after,  I  met  my  Ken- 
tucky companion  in  a  far  distant  land,  when  he  assured 
me,  that  whenever  the  sun  shone  on  his  cloak,  or  it  was 
brought  near  a  fire,  the  scent  of  the  Pole-cat  became 
so  perceptible,  that  he  at  last  gave  it  to  a  poor  monk  in 
Italy. 

The  animal  commonly  known  in  America  by  the  name 
of  Pole-cat,  is  about  a  foot  and  a  half  in  length,  with  a 
large  bushy  tail,  nearly  as  long  as  the  body.  The  color 
is  generally  brownish-black,  with  a  large  white  patch  on 
the  back  of  the  head ;  'but  there  are  many  varieties  of 
coloring,  in  some  of  which  the  broad  white  bands  of  the 
back  are  very  conspicuous.  The  Pole-cat  burrows,  or 
forms  a  subterranean  habitation  among  the  roots  of 
trees,  or  in  rocky  places.  It  feeds  on  birds,  young 
hares,  rats,  mice,  and  other  animals,  and  commits  great 


MR.    AUDUBON  HUNTINQ, 


DEER   HUNTING.  251 

depredations  on  poultry.  The  most  remarkable  pecu- 
liarity of  this  animal  is  the  power,  alluded,  to  above,  of 
squirting  for  its  defence  a  most  nauseously  scented  fluid 
contained  in  a  receptacle  situated  under  the  tail,  which 
it  can  do  to  the  distance  of  several  yards.  It'  does  not, 
however,  for  this  purpose,  sprinkle  its  tail  with  the  fluid,  as 
some  allege,  unless  when  extremely  harassed  by  its  enemies. 
The  Pole-cat  is  frequently  domesticated.  The  removal 
of  the  glands  prevents  the  secretion  of  the  nauseous 
fluid,  and  when  thus  improved,  the  animal  becomes  a 
great  favorite,  and  performs  the  offices  of  the  common 
cat  with  great  dexterity. 


DEER  HUNTING, 

V 

THE  different  modes  of  destroying  Deer,  says  Mr.  Au- 
dubon,*  are  probably  too  well  understood,  and  too  suc- 
cessfully practiced  in  the  United  States  ;  for,  notwith- 
standing the  almost  incredible  abundance  of  these  beau- 
tiful animals  in  our  forests  and  prairies,  such  havoc  is 
carried  on  amongst  them,  that  in  a  few  centuries,  they 
will  probably  be  as  scarce  in  America,  as  the  Great 
Bustard  now  is  in  Britain. 

We  have  three  modes  of  hunting  deer,  each  varying  in 
some  slight  degree,  in  the  different  States  and  Districts. 
The  first  is  termed  Still  Hunting,  and  is  by  far  the  most 
destructive.  The  second  is  called  Fire-light  Hunting, 

*  Ornithological  Biography. 


f 
252  HUNTING   SPORTS   OP  THE  WEST. 

and  is  next  in  its  exterminating  effects.  The  third, 
which  may  be  looked  upon  as  a  mere  amusement,  is 
named  Driving.  Although  many  deer  are  destroyed  by 
this  latter  method,  it  is  not  by  any  means  so  pernicious 
as  the  others.  These  methods  I  shall  describe  sepa- 
rately. 

Still  Hunting  is  followed  as  a  kind  of  trade,  by  most 
of  our  frontier  men.  To  be  practiced  with  success,  it 
requires  great  activity,  an  expert  management  of  the 
rifle,  and  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  forest,  together 
with  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  habits  of  the 
deer,  not  only  at  different  seasons  of  the  year,  but  also 
at  every  hour  of  the  day,  as  the  hunter  must  be  aware 
of  the  situations  which  the  game  prefers,  and  in  which 
it  is  most  likely  to  be  found,  at  any  particular  time.  I 
might  here  present  you  with  a  full  account  of  the  habits 
of  our  deer,  were  it  not  my  intention  to  lay  before  you, 
at  some  future  period,  in  the  form  of  a  distinct  work, 
the  observations  which  I  have  made  on  the  various 
quadrupeds  of  our  extensive  territories. 

Illustrations  of  any  kind  require  to  be  presented  in 
the  best  possible  light.  We  will  therefore  suppose  that 
we  are  about  .to  follow  the  true  hunter,  as  the  Still  Hun- 
ter is  also  called,  through  the  interior  of  the  tangled 
woods,  across  morasses,  ravines,  and  such  places  where 
the  game  may  prove  more  or  less  plentiful,  even  should 
none  be  found  there  in  the  first  instance.  We  will  allow 
our  hunter  all  the  agility,  patience,  and  care,  which  his 
occupation  requires,  and  will  march  in  his  rear,  as  if  we 
were  spies,  watching  all  his  motions. 

His  dress,  you  observe,  consists  of  a  leather  hunting- 


DEER   HUNTING.  253 

shirt,  and  a  pair  of  trowsers  of  the  same  material.  His 
feet  are  well  moccasoned :  he  wears  a  belt  round  his 
waist,  his  heavy  rifle  is  resting  on  his  brawny  shoulder; 
on  one  side  hangs  his  ball-pouch,  surmounted  by  the 
horn  of  an  ancient  buffalo,  once  the  terror  of  the  herd, 
but  now  containing  a  pound  of  the  best  gunpowder  ;  his 
butcher-knife  is  scabbarded  in  the  same  strap,  and  be- 
hind is  a  tomahawk,  the  handle  of  which  has  been  thrust 
through  his  girdle.  He  walks  with  so  rapid  a  step,  that 
probably  few  men  could  follow  him,  unless  for  a  short 
distance,  in  their  anxiety  to  witness  his  ruthless  deeds. 
He  stops,  looks  at  the  flint  of  his  gun,  its  priming,  and 
the  leather  cover  of  the  lock,  then  glances  his  eye  to- 
wards the  sky,  to  judge  of  the  course  most  likely  to  lead 
him  to  the  game. 

The  heavens  are  clear,  the  red  glare  of  the  morning 
sun  gleams  through  the  lower  branches  of  the  lofty 
trees,  the  dew  hangs  in  pearly  drops  at  the  top  of  every 
leaf.  Already  has  the  emerald  hue  of  the  foliage  been 
converted  into  the  more  glowing  tints  of  our  autumnal 
months.  A  slight  frost  appears  on  the  fence-rails  of  his 
little  cornfield.  As  he  proceeds,  he  looks  to  the  dead 
foliage  under  his  feet,  in  search  of  the  well  known  traces 
of  a  buck's  hoof.  Now  he  bends  toward  the  ground,  on 
which  something  has  attracted  his  attention.  See  !  he 
alters  his  course,  increases  his  speed,  and  will  soon  reach 
the  opposite  hill.  Now  he  moves  with  caution,  stops  at 
almost  every  tree,  and  peeps  forward  as  if  already  within 
shooting  distance  of  the  game.  He  advances  again,  but 
how  very  slowly !  He  has  reached  the  declivity,  upon 
which  the  sun  shines  in  all  its  growing  splendor ;  but 


254  HUNTINflk  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

mark  him !  he  takes  the  gun  from  his  shoulder,  has 
already  thrown  aside  the  leathered  cover  of  the  lock,  and 
is  wiping  the  edge  of  his  flint  with  his  tongue.  Now  he 
stands  like  a  monumental  figure,  perhaps  measuring  the 
distance  that  lies  between  him  and  the  game  which  he 
has  in  view.  His  rifle  is  slowly  raised,  the  report  fol- 
lows, and  he  runs.  Let  us  run  also.  Shall  I  speak  to 
him,  and  ask  him  the  result  of  his  first  essay  ?  Assur- 
edly, reader,  for  I  know  him  well. 

"  Pray,  friend,  what  have  you  killed  ?"  for  to  say, 
"What  have  you  shot  at?"  might  imply  the  possibility 
of  his  having  missed,  and  so  might  hurt  his  feelings. 
"  Nothing  but  a  buck."  "  And  where  is  it  ?"  "  Oh,  it 
has  taken  a  jump  or  so,  but  I  settled  it,  and  will  soon  be 
with  it.  My  ball  struck,  and  must  have  gone  through 
his  heart."  We  arrive  at  the  spot  where  the  animal 
had  laid  itself  down  among  the  grass,  in  a  thicket 
of  grape  vines,  sumachs,  and  spruce  bushes,  where  it  in- 
tended to  repose  during  the  middle  of  the  day.  The 
place  is  covered  with  blood,  the  hoofs  of  the  deer  have 
left  deep  prints  in  the  ground,  as  it  bounced  in  the  ago- 
nies produced  by  its  wound ;  but  the  blood  that  has 
gushed  from  its  side,  discloses  the  course  which  it  has 
taken.  We  soon  reach  the  spot.  There  lies  the  buck, 
its  tongue  out,  its  eye  dim,  its  breath  exhausted :  it  is 
dead.  The  hunter  draws  his  knife,  cuts  the  buck's 
throat  almost  asunder,  and  prepares  to  skin  it.  For 
this  purpose  he  hangs  it  upon  the  branch  of  a  tr.ee. 
When  the  skin  is  removed,  he  cuts  off  the  hams,  and 
abandoning  the  rest  of  the  carcass  to  the  wolves  and 
vultures,  reloads  his  gun,  flings  the  venison,  enclosed  by 


DEER  HUNTING.  255 

the  skin,  upon  his  back,  secures  it  ,with  a  strap,  and 
walks  off  in  search  of  more  game,  well  knowing  that  in 
the  immediate  neighborhood,  another  at  least  is  to  be 
found. 

Had  the  weather  been  warmer,  the  hunter  would  have 
sought  for  the  buck  along  the  shadowy  side  of  the  hills. 
Had  it  been  the  spring  season,  he  would  have  led  us 
through  some  thick  cane-brake,  to  the  margin  of  some 
remote  lake,  where  you  would  have  seen  the  deer  'im- 
mersed to  his  head  in  the  water,  to  save  his  body  from  the 
tormenting  attacks  of  moschettoes.  Had  winter  over- 
spread the  earth  with  a  covering  of  snow,  he  would  have 
searched  the  low  damp  woods,  where  the  mosses  and 
lichens,  on  which  at  that  period  the  deer  feeds,  abound, 
the  trees  being  generally  crusted  with  them  for  several 
feet  from  the  ground,  ^.t  one  time,  he  might  have 
marked  the  places  where  the  deer  clears  the  velvet  from 
his  horns  by  rubbing  them  against  the  low  stems  of  busKes, 
and  where  he  frequently  scrapes  the  earth  with  his  fore- 
hoofs  ;  at  another,  he  would  have  betaken  himself  to 
places  where  persimons  and  crab-apples  abound,  as  be- 
neath these  trees  the  deer  frequently  stops  to  munch  their 
fruits.  During  early  spring,  our  hunter  would  imitate 
the  bleating  of  the  doe,  and  thus  frequently  obtain  both 
her  and  the  fawn ;  or,  like  some  tribes  of  Indians,  he 
would  prepare  a  deer's  head,  placed  on  a  stick,  and 
creeping  with  it  amongst  the  tall  grass  of  the  prairies, 
would  decoy  the  deer  within  reach  of  his  rifle.  But  we 
have  seen  enough  of  the  still  hunter.  Let  it  suffice  for 
me  to  add,  that  by  the  mode  pursued  by  him,  thousands 
of  deer  are  annually  killed,  many  individuals  shooting 


256  HUNTING   gPORTS    OF  THE   WEST. 

these  animals  merely  for  the  skin,  not  caring  for  even 
the  most  valuable  portions  of  the  flesh,  unless  hunger,  or 
a  near  market,  induces  them  to  carry  off  the  hams. 

The  mode  of  destroying  deer  by  fire-light,  or,  as  it  is 
named  in  some  parts  of  the  country,  forest-light,  nevei 
fails  to  produce  a  very  singular  feeling  in  him  who  wit- 
nesses it  for  the  first  time.  There  is  something  in  it 
which  at  times  appears  awfully  grand.  At  other  times,  a 
certain  degree  of  fear  creeps  over  the  mind,  and  even 
affects  the  physical  powers,  of  him  who  follows  the  hun- 
ter through  the  thick  undergrowth  of  our  woods,  having 
to  leap  his  horse  over  hundreds  of  huge  fallen  trunks,  at 
one  time  impeded  by  a  straggling  grape-vine  crossing  his 
path,  at  another  squeezed  between  two  stubborn  saplings, 
whilst  their  twigs  come  smack  in  his  face,  as  his  compa- 
nion has  forced  his  way  through  them.  Again,  he  every 
now  and  then  runs  the  risk  of  breaking  his  neck,  by  be- 
ing suddenly  pitched  headlong  on  the  ground,  as  his 
horse  sinks  into  a  hole  covered  over  with  moss.  But  I 
must  proceed  in  a  more  regular  manner*  and  leave  my 
reader  to  judge  whether  such  a  mode  of  hunting  would 
suit  his  taste  or  not. 

The  hunter  has  returned  to  his  camp  or  his  house,  has 
rested  and  eaten  of  his  game.  He  waits  impatiently  for 
the  return  of  night.  He  has  procured  a  quantity  of  pine- 
knots  filled  with  resinous  matter,  and  has  an  old  frying- 
pan,  that,  for  aught  I  know  to  the  country,  may  have 
been  used  by  his  great-grandmother,  in  which  the  pine- 
knots  are  to  be  placed  when  lighted.  The  horses  stand 
saddled  at  the  door.  The  hunter  comes  forth,  his  rifle 
slung  on  his  shoulder,  and  springs  upon  one  of  them, 


DEER   HUNTING.  257 

while  his  son,  or  a  servant,  mounts  the  other,  with  the 
frying-pan  and  the  pine-knots.  Thus  accoutred,  they 
proceed  towards  the  interior  of  the  forest.  When  they 
have  arrived  at  the  spot  where  the  hunt  is  to  begin,  they 
strike  fire  with  a  flint  and  steel,  and  kindle  the  resinous 
wood.  The  person  who  carries  the  fire  moves  in  the 
direction  judged  to  be  the  best.  The  blaze  illuminates 
the  near  objects,  but  the  distant  parts  seem  involved  in 
deepest  obscurity.  The  hunter  who  bears  the  gun  keeps 
immediately  in  front,  and  after  a  while  discovers  before 
him  two  feeble  lights,  which  are  procured  by  the  reflec- 
tion of  the  pine  fire  from  the  eyes  of  an  animal  of  the 
deer  or  wolf  kind.  The  animal  stands  quite  still.  To 
one  unacquainted  with  this  strange  mode  of  hunting,  the 
glare  from  its  eyes  might  bring  to  his  imagination  some 
lost  hobgoblin  that  had  strayed  from  its  usual  haunts. 
The  hunter,  however,  nowise  intimidated,  approaches  the 
object,  sometimes  so  near  as  to  discern  its  form,  when 
raising  the  rifle  to  his  shoulder,  he  fires  and  kills  it  on 
the  spot.  He  then  dismounts,  secures  the  skin  and  such 
portions  of  the  flesh  as  he  may  want,  in  the  manner  al- 
ready described,  and  continues  his  search  through  the 
greater  part  of  the  night,  sometimes  until  the  dawn  of 
day,  shooting  from  five  to  ten  deer,  should  these  animals 
be  plentiful.  This  kind  of  hunting  proves  fatal,  not  to 
the  deer  alone,  but  also  sometimes  to  wolves,  and  now 
and  then  to  a  horse  or  a  cow,  which  may  have  straggled 
far  into  the  woods. 

Now,  reader,  prepare  to  mount  a  generous,  full  blood 
Virginian  Hunter.  See  that  your  gun  is  in  complete 
order,  for,  hark  to  the  sound  of  the  bugle  and  horn,  and 


258  HUNTING   SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

the  mingled  clamor  of  a  pack  of  harriers  !  Your  frienda 
are  waiting  you,  under  the  shade  of  the  wood,  and  we 
must  together  go  driving  the  light-footed  deer.  The  dis- 
tance over  which  one  has  to  travel  is  seldom  felt,  when 
pleasure  is  anticipated  as  the  result :  so,  galloping  we 
go  pell-mell  through  the  woods,  to  some  well-known  place, 
where  many  a  fine  buck  has  drooped  its  antlers  under 
the  ball  of  the  hunter's  rifle.  The  servants,  who  are 
called  the  drivers,  have  already  begun  their  search.  Their 
voices  are  heard  exciting  the  hounds,  and  unless  we  put 
spurs  to  our  steeds,  we  may  be  too  late  at  our  stand,  and 
thus  lose  the  first  opportunity  of  shooting  the  fleeting 
game  as  it  passes  by.  Hark  again !  the  dogs  are  in 
chase,  the  horn  sounds  louder  and  more  clearly.  Hurry, 
hurry  on,  or  we  shall  be  sadly  behind ! 

Here  we  are  at  last !  Dismount,  fasten  your  horse  to 
this  tree,  place  yourself  by  the  side  of  that  large  yellow 
poplar,  and  mind  you  do  not  shoot  me !  The  deer  is 
fast  approaching ;  I  will  to  my  own  stand,  and  he  who 
shoots  him  dead  wins  the  prize. 

The  deer  is  heard  coming.  It  has  inadvertently 
cracked  a  dead  stick  with  its  hoof,  and  the  dogs  are  now 
so  near  it  that  it  will  pass  in  a  moment.  There  it  comes . 
How  beautifully  it  bounds  over  the  ground !  What  a 
splendid  head  of  horns  !  How  easy  its  attitudes,  depend- 
ing, as  it  seems  to  do,  on  its  own  swiftness  for  safety ! 
All  is  in  vain,  however :  a  gun  is  fired,  the  animal 
plunges  and  doubles  with  incomparable  speed.  There 
he  goes  !  He  passes  another  stand,  from  which  a  second 
shot,  better  directed  than  the  first,  brings  him  to  the 
ground.  The  dogs,  the  servants,  the  sportsmen  are  now 


DEER   HUNTING.  259 

« 

rushing  forward  to  the  spot.  The  hunter  who  has  shot 
it  is  congratulated  on  his  skill  or  good  luck,  and  the  chase 
begins  again  in  some  other  part  of  the  woods. 

A  few  lines  of  explanation  may  be  required  to  convey 
a  clear  idea  of  this  mode  of  hunting.  Deer  are  fond  of 
following  and  retracing  the  paths  which  they  have  for- 
merly pursued,  and  continue  to  do  so  even  after  they 
have  been  shot  at  more  than  once.  These  tracks  are 
discovered  by  persons  on  horseback  in  the  woods,  or  a 
deer  is  observed  crossing  a  road,  a  field,  or  a  small  stream. 
When  this  has  been  noticed  twice,  the  deer  may  be  shot 
from  the  places  called  stands  by  the  sportsman,  who  is 
stationed  there,  and  waits  for  it,  a  line  of  stands  being 
generally  formed  so  as  to  cross  the  path  which  the  game 
will  follow.  The  person  who  ascertains  the  usual  pass  of 
the  game,  or  discovers  the  parts  where  the  animal  feeds 
or  lies  down  during  the  day,  gives  intimation  to  his 
friends,  who  then,  prepare  for  the  chase.  The  servants 
start  the  deer  with  the  hounds,  and  by  good  management, 
generally  succeed  in  making  it  run  the  course  that  will 
soonest  bring  it  to  its  death.  But,  should  the  deer  be 
cautious,  and  take  another  course,  the  hunters,  mounted 
on  swift  horses,  gallop  through  the  woods  to  intercept  it, 
guided  by  the  sound  of  the  horns  and  the  cry  of  the  dogs, 
and  frequently  succeed  in  shooting  it.  This  is  ex- 
tremely agreeable,  and  proves  successful  on  almost  every 
occasion. 

Hoping  that  this  account  will  be  sufficient  to  induce 
you,  kind  reader,  to  go  driving  in  our  western  and 
southern  woods,  I  now  conclude  my  chapter  on  Deer 
Hunting  by  informing  you,  that  the  species  referred  to 


260  HUNTING   SPORTS   OP  THE  WEST. 


above  is  the  Virginian  Deer,  Oervus  Virginianus  ;  and 
that,  until  I  be  able  to  present  you  with  a  full  account 
of  its  habits  and  history,  you  may  consult  for  information 
respecting  it  the  excellent  Fauna  Americana  of  my  es- 
teemed friend  Dr.  Harlan,  of  Philadelphia. 


SCIPIO  AND  THE  BEAR, 

THE  Black  Bear,  (Ursus  Americanus,)  says  Mr. 
Audubon,*  however  clumsy  in  appearance,  is  active, 
vigilant,  and  persevering;  possesses  great  strength, 
courage,  and  address ;  and  undergoes  with  little  injury 
the  greatest  fatigues  and  hardships  in  avoiding  the  pur- 
suit of  the  hunter.  Like  the  deer,  it  changes  its  haunts 
with  the  seasons,  and  for  the  same  reason,  namely,  the 
desire  of  obtaining  suitable  food,  or  of  retiring  to  the 
more  inaccessible  parts,  where  it  can  pass  the  time  in 
security,  unobserved  by  man,  the  most  dangerous  of  its 
enemies.  During  the  spring  months,  it  searches  for  food 
in  the  low,  rich,  alluvial  lands  that  border  the  rivers,  or 
by  the  margins  of  such  inland  lakes  as,  on  account  of 
their  small  size,  are  called  by  us  ponds.  There  it  pro- 
cures abundance  of  succulent  roots,  and  of  the  tender 
juicy  stems  of  plants,  upon  which  it  chiefly  feeds  at  that 
season.  During  the  summer  heat,  it  enters  the  gloomy 
swamps,  passes  much  of  its  time  in  wallowing  in  the 

*  Ornithological  Biography. 


SCIPIO  AND  THE   BEAR.  261 

mud,  like  a  hog,  and  contents  itself  with  crayfish,  roots, 
and  nettles,  now  and  then,  when  hard  pressed  by  hunger, 
seizing  on  a  young  pig,  or  perhaps  a  sow,  or  even  a  calf. 
As  soon  as  the  different  kinds  of  berries  which  grow  on 
the  mountains  begin  to  ripen,  the  Bears  betake  themselves 
to  the  high  grounds,  followed  by  their  cubs.  In  such 
retired  parts  of  the  country  where  there  are  no  hilly 
grounds,  it  pays  visits  to  the  make  fields,  which  it  rav- 
ages for  awhile.  After  this,  the  various  species  of  nuts, 
acorns,  grapes,  and  other  forest  fruits,  that  form  what  in 
the  western  country  is  called  mast,  attract  its  attention. 
The  Bear  is  then  seen  rambling  singly  through  the  woods 
to  gather  this  harvest,  not  forgetting  meanwhile  to  rob 
every  bee-tree  it  meets  with,  Bears  being,  as  you  well 
know,  expert  at  this  operation.  You  also  know  that  they 
are  good  climbers,  and  may  have  been  told,  or  at  least 
may  now  be  told,  that  the  Black  Bear  now  and  then 
houses  itself  in  the  hollow  trunks  of  the  larger  trees  for 
weeks  together,  when  it  is  said  to  suck  its  paws.  You 
are  probably  not  aware  of  a  habit  in  which  it  indulges, 
and  which,  being  curious,  must  be  interesting  to  you. 

At  one  season,  the  Black  Bear  may  be  seen  examining 
the  lower  part  of  the  trunk  of  a  tree  for  several  minutes 
with  much  attention,  at  the  same  time  looking  around, 
and  snuffing  the  air,  to  assure  itself  that  no  enemy  is 
near.  It  then  raises  itself  on  its  hind  legs,  approaches 
the  trunk,  embraces  it  with  its  fore  legs,  and  scratches 
the  bark  with  its  teeth  and  claws  for  several  minutes  in 
continuance.  Its  jaws  c^ish  against  each  other,  until  a 
mass  of  foam  runs  down  on  both  sides  of  the  mouth. 
After  this  it  continues  its  rambles. 


I 

262  HUNTING    SPOKTS   OF  THE   WEST. 

In  various  portions  of  our  country,  many  of  our 
woodsmen  and  hunters  who  have  seen  the  Bear  perform- 
ing this  singular  operation  just  described,  imagine  that 
it  does  so  for  the  purpose  of  leaving  behind  it  an  indica- 
tion of  its  size  and  power.  They  measure  the  height  at 
which  the  scratches  are  made,  and  in  this  manner  can, 
in  fact,  form  an  estimate  of  the  magnitude  of  the  indi- 
vidual. My  own  opinion,  however,  is  different.  It 
seems  to  me  that  the  Bear  scratches  the  trees,  not  for 
the  purpose  of  showing  its  size  or  its  strength,  but  merely 
for  that  of  sharpening  its  teeth  and  claws,  to  enable  it 
better  to  encounter  a  rival  of  its  own  species  during  the 
amatory  season.  The  Wild  Boar  of  Europe  clashes  its 
tusks  and  scrapes  the  earth  with  its  feet,  and  the  Deer 
rubs  its  antlers  against  the  lower  part  of  the  stems  of 
young  trees  or  bushes,  for  the  same  purpose. 

Being  one  night  sleeping  in  the  house  of  a  friend,  I 
was  awakened  by  a  negro  servant  bearing  a  light,  who 
gave  me  a  note,  which  he  said  his  master  had  just  re- 
ceived. I  ran  my  eye  over  the  paper,  and  found  it  to 
*b&  a  communication  from  a  neighbor,  requesting  my 
friend  and  myself  to  join  him  as  soon  as  possible,  and 
assist  in  killing  some  bears,  at  that  moment  engaged  in 
destroying  his  corn.  I  was  not  long  in  dressing,  you 
may  be  assured,  and  on  entering  the  parlor,  found  my 
friend  equipped,  and  only  waiting  for  some  bullets,  which 
a  negro  was  employed  in  casting.  The  overseer's  horn 
was  heard  calling  up  the  negroes  from  their  different 
cabins.  Some  were  already  engaged  in  saddling  pur 
horses,  whilst  others  were  gathering  all  the  cur-dogs  of 
the  plantation.  All  was  bustle.  Before  half  an  hour 


SCIPIO    AND    THE    BEAR.  263 

had  elapsed,  four  stout  negro  men,  armed  with  axes  and 
knives,  and  mounted  on  strong  nags  of  their  own,  (for 
you  must  know,  kind  reader,  that  many  of  our  slaves 
rear  horses,  cattle,  pigs,  and  poultry,  which  are  exclu- 
sively their  own  property,)  were  following  us  at  a  round 
gallop  through  the  woods,  as  we  made  directly  for  the 
neighbor's  plantation,  a  little  more  than  five  miles  off. 

The  night  was  none  of  the  most  favorable,  a  drizzling 
rain  rendering  the  atmosphere  thick  and  rather  sultry ; 
but  as  we  were  well  acquainted  with  the  course,  we  soon 
reached  the  house,  where  the  owner  was  awaiting  our 
arrival.  There  were  now  three  of  us  armed  with  guns, 
half  a  dozen  servants,  and  a  good  pack  of  dogs  of  all 
kinds.  We  jogged  on  towards  the  detached  field  in  which 
the  bears  were  at  work.  The  owner  told  us  that  for 
some  days  several  of  these  animals  had  visited  his  corn, 
and  that  a  negro  who  was  sent  every  afternoon  to  see 
at  what  part  of  the  enclosure  they  entered,  had  assured 
him  there  were  at  least  five  in  the  field  that  night.  A 
plan  of  attack  was  formed:  the  bars  at  the  usual  gap 
of  the  fence  were  to  be  put  down  without  noise ;  the  men 
and  dogs  were  to  divide,  and  afterwards  proceed  so  as 
to  surround  the  bears,  when,  at  the  sounding  of  our 
hjorns,  every  one  was  to  charge  towards  the  centre  of  the 
field,  and  shout  as  loudly  as  possible,  which  it  was  judged 
would  so  intimidate  the  animals,  as  to  induce  them  to 
seek  refuge  upon  the  dead  trees  with  which  the  field  was 
still  partially  covered. 

The  plan  succeeded.  The  horns  sounded,  the  horses 
galloped  forward,  the  men  shouted,  the  dogs  barked  and 
howled.  The  shrieks  of  the  negroes  were  enough  to 


264  HUNTING  SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

frighten  a  legion  of  bears,  and  those  in  the  field  took  to 
flight,  so  that  by  the  time  we  reached  the  centre,  they 
were  heard  hurrying  towards  the  tops  of  the  trees. 
Fires  were  immediately  lighted  by  the  negroes.  The 
drizzling  rain  had  ceased,  the  sky  cleared,  and  the  glare 
of  the  crackling  fires  proved  of  great  assistance  to  us. 
The  bears  had  been  so  terrified,  that  we  now  saw  several 
of  them  crouched  at  the  junction  of  the  larger  boughs 
with  the  trunks.  Two  were  immediately  shot  down. 
They  were  cubs  of  no  great  size,  and  being  already  half 
dead,  we  left  them  to  the  dogs,  which  quickly  despatched 
them. 

We  were  anxious  to  procure  as  much  sport  as  possible, 
and  having  observed  one  of  the  bears,  which,  from  its 
size,  we  conjectured  to  be  the  mother,  ordered  the  ne- 
groes to  cut  down  the  tree  on  which  it  was  perched, 
when  it  was  intended  the  dogs  should  have  a  tug  with  it, 
while  we  should  support  them,  and  assist  in  preventing 
the  bear  from  escaping,  by  wounding  it  in  one  of  the  hind 
legs.  The  surrounding  woods  now  echoed  to  the  blows  of 
the  axemen.  The  tree  was  large  and  tough,  having  been 
girded  more  than  two  years,  and  the  operation  of  felling  it 
seemed  extremely  tedious.  However,  it  began  to  vibrato 
at  each  stroke  ;  a  few  inches  alone  now  supported  it ; 
and  in  a  short  time  it  came  crashing  to  the  ground,  in 
so  awful  a  manner,  that  bruin  must  doubtless  have  felt 
the  shock  as  severely  as  if  we  should  feel  a  shake  of  the 
globe,  produced  by  the  sudden  collision  of  a  comet. 

The  dogs  rushed  to  the  charge,  and  harassed  the 
bear  on  all  sides.  We  had  remounted,  and  now  sur- 
rounded the  poor  animal.  As  its  life  depended  upon  its 


SCIPIO  AND  THE  BEAR.  265 

courage  and  strength,  it  exercised  both  in  the  most  en- 
ergetic manner.  Now  and  then  it  seized  a  dog,  and 
killed  him  by  a  single  stroke.  At  another  time,  a  well 
administered  blow  of  one  of  its  fore-legs,  sent  an  assail- 
ant off  yelping  so  piteously,  that  he  might  be  looked 
upon  as  hors  de  combat.  A  cur  had  daringly  ventured 
to  seize  the  bear  by  the  snout,  and  was  seen  hanging  to 
it,  covered  with  blood,  whilst  a  dozen  or  more  scrambled 
over  its  back.  Now  and  then  the  infuriated  animal  was 
seen  to  cast  a  revengeful  glance  at  some  of  the  party, 
and  we  had  already  determined  to  despatch  it,  when,  to 
our  astonishment,  it  suddenly  shook  off  all  the  dogs,  and 
before  we  could  fire,  charged  upon  one  of  the  negroes, 
who  was  mounted  on  a  pied  horse.  The  bear  seized  the 
steed  with  teeth  and  claws,  and  clung  to  its  breast.  The 
terrified  horse  snorted  and  plunged.  The  rider,  an 
athletic  young  man,  and  a  capital  horseman,  kept  his 
seat,  although  only  saddled  on  a  sheep's  skin  tightly 
girthed,  and  requested  his  master  not  to  fire  at  the  bear. 
Notwithstanding  his  coolness  and  courage,  our  anxiety 
for  his  safety  was  raised  to  the  highest  pitch,  especially 
when  in  a  moment  we  saw  rider  and  horse  come  to  the 
ground  together ;  but  we  were  instantly  relieved,  on  wit- 
nessing the  masterly  manner  in  which  Scipio  despatched 
his  adversary,  by  laying  open  his  skull  with  a  single  well- 
directed  blow  of  his  axe,  when  a  deep  growl  announced 
the  death  of  the  bear,  and  the  valorous  negro  sprung  to 
his  feet  unhurt. 

Day  dawned,  and  we  renewed  our  search.  Two  of 
the  remaining  bears  were  soon  discovered,  lodged  in  a 
tree  about  a  hundred  yards  from  the  spot  where  the  last 


266  HUNTING    SPORTS    OF   THE   WEST. 

one  had  been  overpowered.  On  approaching  them  in  a 
circle,  we  found  that  they  manifested  no  desire  to  come 
down,  and  we  resolved  to  try  smoking.  We  surrounded 
the  tree  with  a  pile  of  brushwood  and  large  branches. 
The  flames  ascended  and  caught  hold  of  the  dry  bark. 
At  length  the  tree  assumed  the  appearance  of  a  pillar 
of  flame.  The  bears  mounted  to  the  top  branches. 
When  they  had  reached  the  uppermost,  they  were  seen 
to  totter,  and  soon  after,  the  branch  cracking  and  snap- 
ping across,  they  came  to  the  ground,  bringing  with 
them  a  mass  of  broken  twigs.  They  were  cubs,  and  the 
dogs  soon  worried  them  to  death. 

The  party  returned  to  the  house  in  triumph.  Scipio's 
horse  being  severely  wounded,  was  let  loose  in  the  field, 
to  repair  his  strength  by  eating  the  corn.  A  cart  was 
afterwards  sent  for  the  game.  But  before  we  had  left 
the  field,  the  horses,  dogs,  and  bears,  together  with  the 
fires,  had  destroyed  more  corn  within  a  few  hours,  than 
the  poor  bear  and  her  cubs  had,  during  the  whole  of 
their  visits. 


HUNTING  THE  GRIZZLY  BEAR. 

THE  following  is  an  account  of  two  grizzly  bears  taken 
by  General  Pike,  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  after- 
wards exhibited  at  the  Philadelphia  Museum  : 

These  bears  were  taken  in  rather  a  southern  latitude, 
among  the  Rocky  Mountains ;  and  they  are  said  to  have 


HUNTING   THE    GRIZZLY   BEAR.  267 

been  littered  about  the  1st  of  March,  1807,  which,  by  the 
•way,  shows  that  this  species  produces  later  in  the  year 
than  the  Brown  Bear.  They  were  so  young  that  they 
could  take  only  milk,  and  in  that  state  they  were  car- 
ried a  lohg  distance.  Pike's  account  of  their  conduct 
on  the  march,  shows  both  how  they  might  have  been 
tamed,  and  how  they  were  not: — "I  had  a  cage,"  says 
he,  "  prepared  for  both,  which  was  carried  on  a  mule, 
lashed  between  two  packs ;  but  I  always  ordered  them 
to  be  let  out  the  moment  we  halted,  and  not  shut  up 
again  till  we  were  prepared  to  march.  By  this  treat- 
ment, they  became  exceedingly  docile  when  at  liberty, 
following  my  men  like  dogs  through  our  camps,  and 
the  small  villages  and  forts  where  we  halted.  When 
well  supplied  with  sustenance,  they  would  play  like 
young  puppies  with  each  other  and  the  soldiers ;  but  the 
instant  they  were  shut  up,  and  placed  on  the  mule,  they 
became  cross,  as  the  jolting  of  the  animal  knocked  them 
against  each  other,  and  they  were  sometimes  left  ex- 
posed to  the  scorching  heat  of  a  vertical  sun  for  a  day, 
without  food  or  a  drop  of  water,  in  which  case,  they 
would  worry  and  tear  each  other,  till  nature  was  ex- 
hausted, and  they  could  neither  £ght  nor  bawl  any 
longer." 

The  following  is  the  account  of  their  conduct  in  the 
museum : — "  When  first  received,  they  were  quite  small, 
but  speedily  gave  indications  of  that  ferocity  for  which 
this  species  is  so  remarkable.  As  they  increased  in 
size,  they  became  exceedingly  dangerous,  seizing  and 
tearing  to  pieces  every  animal  they  could  lay  hold  of, 
and  expressing  extreme  eagerness  to  get  at  those  acci- 


268  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

dentally  brought  within  sight  of  their  cage,  by  grasping 
the  iron  bars  with  their  paws,  and  shaking  them  vio- 
lently, to  the  great  terror  of  spectators,  who  felt  insecure 
while  witnessing  such  displays  of  their  strength.  In 
instance,  an  unfo'rtunate  monkey  was  walking  over  the 
top  of  the  cage,  when  the  end  of  the  chain  which  hung 
from  his  waist,  dropped  through  within  reach  of  the 
bears ;  they  immediately  seized  it,  dragged  the  scream- 
ing animal  through  the  narrow  aperture,  tore  Mm  limb 
from  limb,  and  devoured  his  mangled  carcass  almost  in- 
stantaneously. At  another  time,  a  small  monkey  thrust 
his  arm  through  an  opening  in  the  bear  cage,  to  reach 
after  some  object,  one  of  them  immediately  seized  him, 
and,  with  a  sudden  jerk,  tore  the  whole  arm  and  shoulder 
blade  from  the  body,  and  devoured  it  before  any  one 
could  interfere.  They  were  still  cubs,  and -very  little 
more  than  half  grown,  when  their  ferocity  became  so 
alarming  as  to  excite  continual  apprehension  lest  they 
should  escape,  and  they  were  killed  in  order  to  prevent 
such  an  event." 

Upon  comparing  the  account  of  the  soldier,  who  had 
no  "story"  to  tell,  but  simply  the  truth,  with  that  of 
the  museum  describer,  in  regard  to  these,  the  same  ani- 
mals, it  cannot  fail  to  strike  the  reader  that  there  is  a 
wonderful  coincidence  between  these  and  the  accounts 
of  similar  parties  respecting  the  common  hyaena.  Every 
one  who  knows  anything  about  domestic  economy  in  the 
Dukhun,  must  be  aware  that  the  domestication  of  the 
hyaena  as  a  substitute  for  the  dog,  is  a  very  common  oc- 
currence there ;  and  the  memory  which  the  hyaena  at  the 
Zoological  Gardens  retained  of  the  kindness  of  colonel 


HUNTING   THE   GRIZZLY   BEAR.  269 

Sykes,  after  the  lapse  of  two  years,  and  the  apparent 
joy  with  which  it  welcomed  him,  though  he  gave  it  no- 
thing, are  interesting  traits  in  the  animal  economy.  Yet 
this  same  hyaena  has,  "time  out  of  mind,"  been  the 
"  ferocious  and  untameahle  " — the  very  ultimate  exam- 
ple of  unrelenting  cruelty. 

Some  of  the  habits  of  the  bears  and  the  -hyaena  are 
similar :  for  instance,  they  both  consume  dead  carcasses  ; 
but  otherwise,  the  hyaena  is  by  much  the  more  carnivo- 
rous animal  of  the  two,  especially  in  the  structure  of  its 
teeth,  and  therefore  the  accounts  of  the  untameable  dis- 
position of  the  one  animal  are  no  more  deserving  of  ra- 
tional credence,  than  those  of  the  other. 

We  have  no  intentions  of  pleading  specially  for  the 
grizzly  bear,  or  for  any  animal  whatever ;  but,  though  it 
is  nearly  exploded  among  all  who  study  natural  history, 
there  is  a  great  deal  of  the  ridiculous  exaggeration  intro- 
duced by  the  showmen,  still  current  in  the  country,  and 
in  so  far  perpetuated  by  compilers ;  and  this  remaining 
delusion,  it  becomes  our  duty,  writing  as  we  do  for  the 
public,  by  every  means  in  our  power  to  dispel.  It  is 
also  our  duty  to  mention,  for  the  sake  of  those  who  have 
not  the  opportunity  of  seeing  animals  in  a  state  .of  na- 
ture, or  in  that  semi-freedom  which  they  enjoy  in  zoolo- 
gical gardens,  that,  in  the  pigeon-holes  of  a  traveling 
caravan,  they  see  only  the  dwarfed  or  emaciated  forms 
of  the  animals,  and  nothing  whatever  of  their  natural 
dispositions.  Indeed,  if  the  gentlest  mouthpiece  of  the 
menagerie  that  ever  told  the  terrors  of  a  tiger  to  the 
wondering  rustics  at  a  fair,  were  to  get  only  twelve 
months  of  the  tenement  and  treatment  of  his  beast,  he 


270  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE   WEST. 

would  be  the  more  ferocious  animal,  and  therefore  the 
better  spectacle  of  the  two. 

But  while  we  must  not  judge  of  the  character  of  the 
powerful  bear,  under  notice  from  the  museum  account,  as 
little  can  we  do  it  from  the  accounts  of  the  hunters ;  for  if 
the  one  shows  us  an  animal  soured  and  irritated  by  cap- 
tivity, the  other  displays  it  with  all  its  formidable  ener- 
gies aroused  in  defence  of  its  life.  Of  these  accounts 
by  the  hunters,  ~we  shall,  however,  give  the  substance  of 
one  instance  from  the  expedition  of  Lewis  and  Clark,  on 
the  Missouri.  One  evening,  the  men  in  one  of  the  hind- 
most of  the  canoes,  perceived  a  grizzly  bear  lying  on  the 
open  ground,  about  three  hundred  paces  from  the  river ; 
and  six  of  them,  good  hunters,  went  to  attack  it.  They 
got  within  forty  paces  unperceived,  when  four  fired,  all 
hitting,  and  two  balls  passing  directly  through  the  lungs. 
The  bear  sprang  up  and  ran  furiously  at  them  with  open 
mouth,  upon  which  the  two  hunters  who  had  reserved 
their  fire,  gave  it,  both  hitting,  and  one  breaking  his 
shoulder  blade,  which  somewhat  retarded  his  motions. 
But  before  they  could  reload,  he  came  so  close  upon 
them,  that  they  were  obliged  to  make  directly  for  the 
river,  and  before  they  reached  it,  the  bear  was  almost 
within  paw's  length.  Two  jumped  into  the  canoe*,  and 
the  other  four  concealing  themselves  among  the  willows, 
fired  as  fast  as  they  co-uld  load.  They  struck  him  seve- 
ral times,  but  that  only  made  him  proceed  more  furiously 
in  the  direction  whence  the  wound  came.  At  last  they 
were  obliged  to  throw  down  their  guns  and  pouches,  and 
jump  from  a  bank  twenty  feet  high,  into  the  river.  But 
bruin  is  more  expert  both  at  jumping  and  swimming, 


HUNTING   THE   GRIZZLY   BEAR, 


HUNTING   THE   GRIZZLY   BEAR    IN   HIS   DEN.      273 

than  even  a  backwoods'  rifleman,  so  he  plunged  in  after 
them,  and  was  almost  in  the  act  of  seizing  the  hindmost 
man,  when  one  of  those  on  shore  shot  him  through  the 
head,  and  he  expired.  When  they  dragged  him  on 
shore,  they  found  that  eight  balls  had  passed  through 
his  body  in  different  directions. 


HUNTING  THE  GRIZZLY  BEAR    IN    HIS    DEN. 

THE  every-day  sports  of  the  wild  woods  include  many 
feats  of  daring  that  never  find  a  pen  of  record.  Con- 
stantly in  the  haunts  of  the  savage,  are  enacting  scenes 
of  thrilling  interest,  the  very  details  of  which  would 
make  the  denizen  of  enlightened  life  turn  away  with  in- 
stinctive dread.  Every  Indian  tribe  has  its  heroes,  cele- 
brated respectively  for  their  courage  in  different  ways 
exhibited.  Some  for  their  acuteness  in  pursuing  the 
enemy  on  the  war-path,  and  others  for  the  destruction 
they  have  accomplished  among  the  wild  beasts  of  the 
forest.  A  great  hunter  among  the  Indians  is  a  marked 
personage.  It  is  a  title  that  distinguishes  its  possessor 
among  his  people  as  a  prince;  while  the  exploits  in 
which  he  has  been  engaged  hang  about  his  person  as 
brilliantly  as  the  decorations  of  so  many  orders.  The 
country  in  which  the  Osage  finds  a  home,  possesses 
abundantly  the  Grizzly  Bear,  an  animal  formidable  be- 
yond any  other  inhabitant  of  the  North  American  forests: 

an  animal  seemingly  insensible  to  pain,  uncertain  in  ita 
18 


274  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

habits,  and  by  its  mighty  strength  able  to  overcome  any 
living  obstacle  that  comes  within  its  reach,  as  an  enemy. 
The  Indian  warrior,  of  any  tribe,  among  the  haunts  of 
the  Grizzly  Bear,  finds  no  necklace  so  honorable  to  be 
worn  as  the  claws  of  this  gigantic  animal,  if  he  fell  by 
his  own  prowess ;  and  if  he  can  add  an  eagle's  plume  to 
his  scalp-lock,  plucked  from  a  bird  shot  while  on  the 
wing,  he  is  honorable  indeed.  The  Indian's  "  smoke," 
like  the  fire-side  of  the  white  man,  is  often  the  place 
where  groups  of  people  assemble  to  relate  whatever  may 
most  pleasantly  while  away  the  hours  of  a  long  evening, 
or  destroy  the  monotony  of  a  dull  and  idle  day.  On 
such  occasions,  the  old  "brave"  will  sometimes  relax 
from  his  natural  gravity,  and  grow  loquacious  over  his 
chequered  life.  But  no  recital  commands  such  undivided 
attention  as  the  adventures  with  the  Grizzly  Bear;  and 
the  death  of  an  enemy  on  the  war-path  hardly  vies  with, 
it  in  interest. 

We  have  listened  to  these  soul-stirring  adventures 
over  the  urn,  or  while  lounging  on  the  sofa;  and  the 
recital  of  the  risks  run,  the  hardships  endured,  have 
made  us  think  them  almost  impossible,  when  compared 
with  the  conventional  self-indulgence  of  enlightened  life. 
But  they  were  the  tales  of  a  truthful  man;  a  hunter, 
who  had  strayed  away  from  the  scenes  once  necessary 
for  his  life,  and  who  loved,  like  the  worn-out  soldier,  to 
"fight  his  battles  over,"  in  which  he  was  once  engaged. 
It  may  be,  and  is  the  province  of  the  sportsman  to 
exaggerate;  but  the  "hunter,"  surrounded  by  the  mag- 
nificence and  sublimity  of  an  American  forest,  earning 
his  bread  by  the  hardy  adventures  of  the  chase,  meets 


HUNTING   THE   GRIZZLY   BEAR   IN    HIS    DEN.       275 

with  too  much  reality  to  find  room  for  coloring — too 
much  of  the  sublime  and  terrible  in  the  scenes  with  which 
he  is  associated,  to  be  boastful  of  himself.  Apart  from 
the  favorable  effects  of  civilization,  he  is  also  separated 
from  its  contaminations ;  and  boasting  and  exaggeration 
are  "settlements"  weaknesses,  and  not  the  products  of 
the  wild  woods. 

The  hunter,  whether  Indian  or  white,  presents  one  of 
the  most  extraordinary  exhibitions  of  the  singular  ca- 
pacity of  the  human  senses  to  be  improved  by  cultiva- 
tion. The  unfortunate  deaf,  dumb,  and  blind  girl,  in 
one  of  our  public  institutions,*  selects  her  food,  her 
clothing,  and  her  friends,  by  the  touch  alone — so  deli- 
cate has  it  become  from  the  mind's  being  directed  to 
that  sense  alone.  The  forest  hunter  uses  the  sight  most 
extraordinarily  well,  and  experience  at  last  renders  it  so 
keen,  that  the  slightest  touch  of  a  passing  object  on  the 
leaves,  trees,  or  earth,  seems  to  leave  deep  and  visible 
impressions,  that  to  the  common  eye  are  unseen  as  the 
path  of  the  bird  thraugh  the  air.  This  knowledge  gov- 
erns the  chase  and  the  war-path;  this  knowledge  is 
what,  when  excelled  in,  makes  the  master-spirit  among 
the  rude  inhabitants  of  the  woods ;  and  that  man  is  the 
greatest  chief  who  follows  the  coldest  trail,  and  leaves 
none  behind  by  his  own  footsteps.  The  hunter  in  pur- 
suit of  the  Grizzly  Bear  is  governed  by  this  instinct  of 
sight.  It  directs  him  with  more  certainty  than  the 
hound  is  directed  by  his  nose.  The  impressions  of  the 
bear's  footsteps  upon  the  leaves,  its  marks  on  the  trees, 
its  resting-places,  are  all  known  long  before  the  bear  is 
.  *  Hartford  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  aud  Dumb. 


276  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE   WEST. 

really  seen;  and  the  hunter,  while  thus  following  "the 
trail,"  calculates  the  very  sex,  weight,  and  age  with 
certainty.  Thus  it  is  that  he  will  neglect  or  choose  a 
trail ;  one  because  it  is  poor,  and  another  because  it  is 
small,  another  because  it  is  with  cubs,  and  another  be- 
cause it  is  fat,  identifying  the  very  trail  as  the  bear 
itself;  and  herein,  perhaps,  lies  the  distinction  between 
the  sportsman  and  the  huntsman.  The  hunter  follows 
his  object  by  his  own  knowledge  and  instinct,  while  the 
sportsman  employs  the  instinct  of  domesticated  animals 
to  assist  his  pursuits. 

The  different  methods  to  destroy  the  Grizzly  Bear,  by 
those  who  hunt  them,  are  as  numerous  as  the  bears  that 
are  killed.  They  are  not  animals  which  permit  of  a 
system  in  hunting  them;  and  it  is  for  this  reason  they 
are  so  dangerous  and  difficult  to  destroy.  The  experi- 
ence of  one  hunt  may  cost  a  limb  or  a  life  in  the  next 
one,  if  used  as  a  criterion ;  and  fatal,  indeed,  is  the 
mistake,  if  it  comes  to  grappling  with  an  animal  whose 
gigantic  strength  enables  him  to  lift  a  horse  in  his  huge 
arms,  and  bear  it  away  as  a  prize.  There  is  one  terrible 
exception  to  this  rule ;  one  habit  of  the  animal  may  be 
certainly  calculated  on,  but  a  daring  heart  only  can  take 
advantage  of  it. 

The  Grizzly  Bear,  like  the  tiger  and  lion,  have  their 
caves  in  which  they  live ;  but  they  use  them  principally 
as  a  safe  lodging-plaee  when  the  cold  of  winter  renders 
them  torpid  and  disposed  to  sleep.  To  these  caves  they 
retire  late  in  the  fall,  and  they  seldom  venture  out  until 
the  warmth  of  spring.  Sometimes  two  occupy  one  cave, 
but  this  is  not  often  the  case,  as  the  unsociability  df  the 


HUNTING  THE   GRIZZLY   BEAR   IN  HIS   DEN.       277 

animal  is  proverbial,  they  preferring  to  be  solitary  and 
alone.  A  knowledge  of  the  forests,  and  an  occasional 
trailing  for  bear,  inform  the  hunter  of  these  caves,  and 
the  only  habit  of  the  Grizzly  Bear  that  can  with  certainty 
be  taken  advantage  of,  is  that  of  his  being  in  his  cave 
alive,  if  at  a  proper  season.  And  the  hunter  has  the 
terrible  liberty  of  entering  his  cave  single-handed,  and 
there  destroying  him.  Of  this  only  method  of  hunting 
the  Grizzly  Bear  we  would  attempt  a  description. 

The  thought  of  entering  a  cave,  inhabited  by  one  of 
the  most  powerful  beasts  of  prey,  is  calculated  to  try 
the  strength  of  the  best  nerves ;  and  when  it  is  consid- 
ered that  the  least  trepidation,  the  slightest  mistake, 
may  cause,  and  probably  will  result  in  the  instant  death 
of  the  hunter,  it  certainly  exhibits  the  highest  demon- 
stration of  physical  courage  to  pursue  such  a  method  of 
hunting.  Yet  there  are  many  persons  in  the  forests  of 
North  America  who  engage  in  such  perilous  adventures 
with  no  other  object  in  view  than  the  "sport"  or  hearty 
meal.  The  hunter's  preparations  to  "  beard  the  lion  in 
his  den,"  commence  with  examining  the  mouth  of  the 
cave  he  is  about  to  enter.  Upon  the  signs  there  exhi- 
bited he  decides  whether  the  bear  is  alone ;  for  if  there 
are  two,  the  cave  is  never  entered.  The  size  of  the  bear 
is  also  thus  known,  and  the  time  since  he  was  last  in 
search  of  food.  The  way  this  knowledge  is  obtained, 
from  indications  so  slight,  or  unseen  to  an  ordinary  eye, 
is  one  of  the  greatest  mysteries  of  the  woods.  Placing 
ourselves  at  the  mouth  of  a  cave  containing  a  Grizzly 
Bear,  to  our  untutored  senses  there  would  be  nothing  to 
distinguish  it  from  one  that  was  empty;  but  if  some 


278  HUNTING    SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

Diana  of  the  forest  would  touch  our  eyes,  and  give  us 
the  instinct  of  sight  possessed  by  the  hunter,  we  would 
argue  thus:  "From  all  the  marks  about  the  mouth  of 
the  cave,  the  occupant  has  not  been  out  for  a  great 
length  of  time,  for  the  grass  and  the  earth  have  not  been 
lately  disturbed.  The  bear  is  in  the  cave,  for  the  last 
tracks  made  are  with  the  toe  marks  towards  the  cave. 
There  is  but  one  bear,  because  the  tracks  are  regular 
and  of  the  same  size.  He  is  a  large  bear;  the  length 
of  the  step  and  the  size  of  the  paw  indicate  this ;  and  he 
is  a  fat  one,  because  his  hind  feet  do  not  step  in  the  im- 
pressions made  by  the  fore  ones,  as  is  always  the  case 
with  a  lean  bear."  Such  are  the  signs  and  arguments 
that  present  themselves  to  the  hunter;  and  mysterious 
as  they  seem,  when  not  understood,  when  explained  they 
strike  the  imagination  at  once  as  being  founded  on  the 
unerring  simplicity  and  the  certainty  of  nature.  It  may 
be  asked,  How  is  it  that  the  Grizzly  Bear  is  so  formida- 
ble to  numbers,  when  met  in  the  forest,  and  when  in  a 
cave  can  be  assailed  successfully  by  a  single  man  ?  In 
answer  to  this,  we  must  recollect  that  the  bear  is  only 
attacked  in  his  cave  when  he  is  in  total  darkness,  and 
suffering  from  surprise  and  the  torpidity  of  the  season. 
These  three  things  are  in  this  method  of  hunting  taken 
advantage  of;  and  but  for  these  advantages,  no  quick- 
ness of  eye,  no  steadiness  of  nerve  or  forest  experience, 
would  protect  for  an  instant  the  intruder  to  the  cave  of 
the  Jrizzly  Bear.  The  hunter,  having  satisfied  himself 
about  the  cave,  prepares  a  candle,  which  he  makes  out 
of  the  wax  taken  from  the  comb  of  wild  bees,  softened 
by  the  grease  of  the  bear.  This  candle  has  a  large  wick, 


HUNTING  THE   GRIZZLY   BEAR   IN   HIS   DEN.         279 

and  emits  a^brilliant  flame.  Nothing  else  is  needed  but 
the  rifle.  The  knife  and  the  belt  are  useless ;  for  if  a 
struggle  should  ensue  that  would  make  it  available,  the 
foe  is  too  powerful  to  mind  its  thrusts  before  the  hand 
using  it  would  be  dead.  Bearing  the  candle  before  him, 
with  the  rifle  in  a  convenient  position,  the  hunter  fear- 
lessly enters  the  cave.  He  is  soon  surrounded  by  dark- 
ness, and  is  totally  unconscious  where  his  enemy  will 
reveal  himself.  Having  fixed  the  candle  in  the  ground 
in  firm  position,  with  an  apparatus  provided,  he  lights  it, 
and  its  brilliant  flame  soon  penetrates  into  the  recesses 
of  the  cavern — its  size  of  course  rendering  the  illumina- 
tion more  or  less  complete.  The  hunter  now  places  him- 
self on  his  belly,  having  the  candle  between  the  back 
part  of  the  cave  where  the  bear  is,  and  himself;  in  this 
position-,  with  the  muzzle  of  the  rifle  protruding  out  in 
front  of  him,  he  patiently  waits  for  his  victim.  A  short 
time  only  elapses  before  Bruin  is  aroused  by  the  light. 
The  noise  made  by  his  starting  from  sleep  attracts  the 
hunter,  and  he  soon  distinguishes  the  black  mass,  mov- 
ing, stretching,  and  yawning,  like  a  person  awaked  from 
a  deep  sleep.  The  hunter  moves  not,  but  prepares  his 
rifle;  the  bear,  finally  roused,  turns  his  head  towards 
the  candle,  and,  with  slow  and  wading  steps,  ap- 
proaches it. 

Now  is  the  time  that  tries  the  nerves  of  the  hunter. 
Too  late  to  retreat,  his  life  hangs  upon  his  certain  aim 
and  the  goodness  of  his  powder.  The  slightest  varia- 
tion in  the  bullet,  or  a  flashing  pan,  and  he  is  a  doomed 
man.  So  tenacious  of  life  is  the  common  black  bear, 
that  it  is  frequently  wounded  in  its  most  vital  parts,  and 


280  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

will  still  escape  or  give  terrible  battle.  But  the  Grizzly 
Eear  seems  to  possess  an  infinitely  greater  tenacity  of 
life.  His  skin,  covered  by  matted  hair,  and  the  huge 
bones  of  his  body,  protect  the  heart,  as  if  incased  in  a 
wall;  while  the  brain  is  buried  in  a  skull,  compared  to 
which  adamant  is  not  harder.  A  bullet,  striking  the 
bear's  forehead,  would  flatten,  if  it  struck  squarely  on 
the  solid  bone,  as  if  fired  against  a  rock ;  and  dangerous 
indeed  would  it  bfc  to  take  the  chance  of  reaching  the 
animal's  heart.  With  these  fearful  odds  against  -the 
hunter,  the  bear  approaches  the  candle,  growing  every 
moment  more  sensible  of  some  uncommon  intrusion. 
He  reaches  the  blaze,  and  either  raises  his  paw  to  strike 
it,  or  lifts  his  nose  to  scent  it,  either  of  which  will  ex- 
tinguish it,  and  leave  the  hunter  and  the  bear  in  total 
darkness.  This  dreadful  moment  is  taken  advantage  of. 
The  loud  report  of  the  rifle  fills  the  cave  with  stunning 
noise,  and  as  the  light  disappears,  the  ball,  if  success- 
fully fired,  penetrates  the  eye  of  the  huge  animal — the 
only  place  where  it  would  find  a  passage  to  the  brain — 
and  this  not  only  gives  the  wound,  but  instantly  par- 
alyzes, that  no  temporary  resistance  may  be  made.  On 
such  chances  the  American  hunter  perils  his  life,  and 
often  thoughtlessly  courts  the  danger. 


CURIOUS  METHOD  OP  HUNTING  THE  DEER.       281 


CURIOUS  METHOD  OF  HUNTING  THE  DEER. 

IN  the  great  plains  between  Oakinagan  and  Spokan, 
says  Mr.  Ross  Cox,  there  are  at  particular  seasons  num- 
bers of  small  deer.  The  editor  of  Lewis  and  Clarke 
classes  them  as  antelopes ;  but  how  much  soever  they 
may  resemble  those  animals  in  swiftness  and  shape,  their 
horns,  as  described  by  naturalists,  are  totally  different. 
Their  flesh  is  sweet  and  delicate,  and  they  generally  go 
in  small  herds.  Towards  the  latter  end  of  the  summer 
they  are  in  prime  condition,  and  at  that  season  we  had 
some  excellent  sport  in  hunting  them.  The  Indians, 
however,  are  not  satisfied  with  our  method  of  taking  them 
in  detail.  On  ascertaining  the  direction  the  deer  have 
chosen,  part  of  their  hunters  take  a  circuit  in  order  to 
arrive  in  front  of  the  herd,  while  those  behind  set  fire 
to  the  long  grass,  the  flames  of  which  spread  with  great 
rapidity.  In  their  flight  from  the  devouring  element 
they  are  intercepted  by  the  hunters,  and,  while  they 
hesitate  between  these  dangers,  great  numbers  fall  by  the 
arrows  of  the  Indians. 

The  wolves  almost  rival  the  Indians  in  their  manner 
of  attacking  the  deer.  When  impelled  by  hunger,  they 
proceed  in  a  band  to  the  plains  in  quest  of  food.  Hav- 
ing traced  the  direction  which  a  herd  have  taken,  they 
form  themselves  into  a  horse-shoe  line,  the  extreme 
points  of  which  they  keep  open  on  the  grand  ravine. 
After  some  cautious  manosuvring  they  succeed  in  turning 
the  progress  of  the  deer  in  that  direction.  This  object 
effected,  they  begin  to  concentrate  their  ranks,  and  ulti- 


282  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

mately  hem  in  their  victims  in  such  a  manner  as  to  leave 
them  no  choice  but  that  of  being  dashed  to  pieces  down 
the  steep  and  rocky  sides  of  the  ravine,  or  falling  a  prey- 
to  the  fangs  of  their  merciless  pursuers. 


BEAR  HUNTING  ADVENTURE  OF  ICHABOD  MERRITT. 

IN  December,  1820,  there  being  a  light  snow,  Merritt, 
with  two  other  companions,  (one  of  whom  had  been  a 
sailor,}  while  upon  a  hunting  excursion,  came  upon  the 
track  of  a  full  grown  bear,  which,  after  following  for  a 
time,  they  found  had  ascended  a  huge  white-wood  (or 
poplar)  tree.  This  had  been  broken  off  some  seventy  feet 
from  the  ground,  and  it  was  supposed  that  the  bear  must 
have  secreted  itself  within  its  hollow  at  the  top.  Un- 
willing to  lose  their  game,  and  ready  for  any  daring  en- 
terprise, they  looked  about  for  ways  and  means  to  accom- 
plish their  object.  They  first  proposed  cutting  the  tree 
down.  But  this  at  the  root  was  sound  and  not  less  than 
eighteen  feet  in  circumference.  This  with  only  one  axe, 
and  that  a  dull  one,  they  could  not  accomplish  that  day, 
and  if  left  over  night  the  bear  would  escape.  The  sailor 
proposed  that  if  a  smaller  tree  could  be  felled  and  lodged 
against  the  large  one,  he  would  climb  it  to  the  top  and 
shoot  the  bear.  A  beech  tree  was  then  cut  and  lodged 
agreeable  to  their  wishes.  The  sailor,  who  had  often 
ascended  the  waving  mast,  had  now  a  chance  to  show  his 
intrepidity  upon  a  forest  tree.  He  prepared  himself  for 


BEAR  HUNTIN.G.  283 

the  enterprise,  and  now  he  began  to  think  should  he  suc- 
ceed in  gaining  the  top  and  miss  his  first  shot,  his  situa- 
tion would  be  dangerous  in  the  extreme.  The  enraged 
bear  would  undoubtedly  claim  the  premises,  especially 
should  it  be  a  she-one  with  her  cubs,  she  would  doubtless 
claim  her  right  and  title  to  that  elevated  position,  and  a 
battle  would  ensue.  In  this  case  all  would  agree  that 
the  bear  would  have  its  choice  of  location  and  the  advan- 
tage of  position.  In  the  struggle,  too,  the  beech  might 
be  dislodged  from  the  white-wood,  and  he  would  either 
fall  with  it  to  the  ground  or  be  left  at  the  top  of  the  tree. 
The  first  woul(J  be  certain  death,  and  the  other  would  be 
no  enviable  situation.  These  were  solemn  thoughts  for 
the  sailor,  and  they  probably  weakened  his  nerves  so 
much  that  it  was  found  when  he  attempted  to  climb,  that 
he  could  not  ascend,  after  repeatedly  trying,  one  inch 
beyond  the  assistance  of  his  companions. 

This  so  vexed  Merritt  that  he  told  him  to  come  down 
and  he  would  try  what  he  could  do  towards  climbing  the 
tree.  He  then  slung  his  rifle  to  his  hunting  belt  with  the 
muzzle  downwards  and  began  to  ascend  the  tree.  This 
he  succeeded  in  doing,  and  of  getting  from  the  topmost 
branches  of  the  beech  upon  the  limbs  of  the  white-wood 
just  high  enough  to  look  over  in  the  hollow.  It  was 
dark,  and  all  Jie  could  see  was  a  pair  of  eyes  several  feet 
below  him.  After  informing  his  companions  and  charg- 
ing them  to  shoot  the  bear  the  moment  it  came  out  of 
the  tree,  and  that  he  should  depend  upon  them  for  pro- 
tection if  he  missed,  he  fired  into  the  tree,  and  then  re- 
treated back  into  the  top  of  the  beech  and  immediately 
reloaded.  While  doing  this  the  bear  with  two  cubs  came 


284        ,         HUNTING   SPOKTS   OP  THE  WEST. 

out  of  the  hollow  of  the  tree.  At  this  moment  one  of 
those  below  fired,  but  being  so  much  agitated,  he  missed. 
The  cubs  took  to  a  limb  while  the  old  bear  made  towards 
Merritt.  She  was  in  a  menacing  attitude  and  but  a  few 
feet  above  him  when  he  made  a  second  fire.  This  proved 
fatal  and  the  bear  fell.  In  falling  she  just  brushed 
against  him.  Another  hunter  now  coming  up  shot  one 
of  the  cubs,  and  Merritt  at  his  leisure  reloaded  and  shot 
the  ather.  He  then  succeeded  in  getting  safely  to  the 
ground. 


UGLY  ADVENTURE  WITH  A  BEAR. 

About  the  middle  of  May,  1803,  a  man  living  seven  or 
eight  miles  east  of  Youngstown,  had  business  that  called 
him  to  that  place.  He  started  in  the  morning  on  foot, 
and,  having  accomplished  his  business,  was  on  his  return 
home.  When  within  a  mile  and  a  half  of  his  home,  he 
was  attacked  by  a  large  bear.  Being  unarmed  and  un- 
able to  outrun  the  bear,  he  sprang  to.  climb  a  small  tree. 
Before  he  got  out  of  reach  the  bear  caught  him  by  the 
foot ;  but  having  got  hold  of  a  limb  sufficiently  strong, 
he  held  on  until  he  drew  his  foot  from  her  jaws  and  got 
out  of  reach.  But  the  bear  still  kept  at  the  root  of  the 
tree.  This  was  about  two  o'clock,  P.  M.  The  man  hal- 
looed for  help,  and  was  heard  by  two  men  who  were 
splitting  rails  about  half  a  mile  distant.  They  thought 
it  was  the  noise  of  some  wild  animal  and  paid  no  further 
attention  to  it,  until  they  returned  to  their  cabin  in  the 


ADVENTURES   IN    THE   BACKWOODS.  285 

evening;  but,  as  the  noise  continued,  and  attending  to  it 
more  particularly  they,  concluding  it  was  the  voice  of  a 
person  it  distress,  took  each  one  his  axe  and  ran  in  the 
direction  of  the  voice,  and  answered  the  call.  As  soon 
as  they  got  near  enough  to  understand  him,  he  told  them 
he  was  badly  wounded  by  a  bear  then  at  the  root  of  the 
tree,  and  not  to  venture  up  unless  they  were  armed ;  but 
they  rushed  on,  and  the  bear  ran  off.  They  carried  the 
man  to  his  home,  where  he  was  confined  the  most  of  the 
summer. 


ADVENTURES  IN  THE  BACKWOODS. 

IN  the  autumn  of  the  year,  says  an  old  traveler,  I  was 
on  a  journey  to  the  frontier  portion  of  the  States,  but  had 
a  vast  track  of  the  "  Backwoods  "  to  travel  through.  I  was 
in  company  with  a  gentleman,  a  friend  of  mine,  his  wife  and 
sister;  also  a  maid-servant,  who  was  in  the  capacity  of 
nurse,  formed  one  of  the  party.  My  friend,  who  was  city 
bred,  had  foolishly  enough  brought  a  close  carriage  with 
him,  to  the  back  settlements,  when  he  first  located  himself 
there.  At  the  time  of  our  journey,  he  had  resided  about 
five  years  in  the  woods,  during  which  his  city-built  cha- 
riot had  never  been  used.  The  roads,  in  fact,  rendered 
it  quite  unsafe  to  use  a  carriage  of  that  description ;  but 
now  that  they  were  about  to  visit  their  city  friends,  he 
was  anxious  to  do  so  in  the  style  they  knew  he  had  for- 
merly been  accustomed  to.  I,  also,  had  a  carnage; 


286  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

but  mine  was  a  true  backwoods'  affair,  a  regular  yankee 
Dearborn  wagon,  with  wooden  springs,  and  a  variety  of 
flaming  daubs  of  paint,  laid  on  with  true  backwoods' 
taste,  that  is,  with  no  taste  at  all.  There  was  one  thing 
about  it  which  amused  me  exceedingly,  and  that  was,  a 
flaring  device,  or  coat  of  arms,  on  the  most  conspicuous 
panel  of  the  machine.  The  artist  had  undoubtedly  in- 
tended it  for  the  British  lion  and  unicorn,  but  for  what 
purpose  I  could  not  devise,  as  the  wagon  was  not  built 
"  to  order,"  but  for  whoever  might  wish  to  purchase  it ; 
and  as  all  kings,  princes,  and  potentates  are  considerably 
below  par  in  Yankee  land,  I  was  puzzled  to  account  for  this 
strange  whim  of  the  wagon-maker.  He  had  attempted  no 
motto ;  but  over  the  cipher  were  two  "bending plumes,"  but 
the  third  of  the  prince  of  Wales'  feathers  was  omitted,  for 
there  was,  in  fact,  no  room  for  it.  The  unicorn  looked 
more  like  an  enormous  ram,  with  a  single  horn  stuck  on 
the  top  of  his  head,  than  the  beast  it  was  intended  to 
represent ;  while  the  lion  was  in  a  recumbent  position, 
looking  over  his  right  shoulder  at  his  neighbor,  with  a 
look  which  seemed  to  say,  "  What  strange  company  bro- 
ther Jonathan  has  introduced  me  to !"  But  although 
the  wagon  had  been  somewhat  disfigured  with  this  paint- 
ing, yet  it  had  been  made  of  the  best  white  oak  and 
hickory,  and  was  really  a  tough  and  useful  conveyance. 
With  my  friend's  close  carriage,  and  my  own  open 
wagon,  we  set  forward  on  our  journey ;  but  the  roads 
were  so  exceedingly  deep,  that  the  chariot  stuck  fast  in 
the  mud  just  as  night  came  on ;  and  although  I  took  the 
whole  party  into  my  vehicle,  in  order  to  lighten  it,  my 
friend's  horses  were  unable  to  draw  it  out.  A  consider- 


•     ADVENTURES  IN   THE   BACKWOODS.  287 

ble  delay  took  place  in  our  vain  endeavors ;  but  finding 
it  could  not  be  moved,  we  at  last  proceeded  to  the  next 
house,  about  four  miles,  leaving  the  baggage  in  the  cha- 
riot. We  had  now  to  get  assistance,  that  is,  we  pre- 
vailed upon  the  person,  at  whose  house  we  had  arrived, 
to  send  off  two  pair  of  oxen,  (horses  he  had  none,)  and 
two  of  his  sons,  to  bring  forward  the  deserted  carriage, 
and  about  midnight  they  returned,  "all  safe  and 
clever." 

The  following  morning  we  set  out  pretty  early,  and  in 
about  two  hours  reached  the  place  where  we  proposed 
taking  breakfast.  When  we  drove  up  to  the  house  we 
had  no  obsequious  landlord  running  out  to  welcome  us  ; 
for  on  alighting  and  inquiring  for  him,  Mrs.  Le  Barre 
(the  landlady)  told  us  he  was  not  at  home.  "  Who,"  I 
inquired,  "  will  take  care  of  our  horses  ?" 

To  which,  she  very  tartly  replied,  "Yourselves,  I 
guess;  for,"  continued  she,  "I  shall  likely  have  enough 
to  do  indoors." 

Having  acted  my  part  of  ostler,  I  repaired  "indoors  " 
\o  give  directions  about  breakfast,  as  it  had  been  ar- 
ranged that  I  was  to  manage  such  matters.  "  Mrs.  Le 
Barre,"  said  I,  "we  shall  want  breakfast;  what  could 
you  let  us  have?" 

"  I  guess  you  can  have  tea  if  you  wish  ;  but  I  must 
first  get  baby  quieted." 

Now  it  so  happened  that  my  friend,  who  had  been  in- 
disposed, was  obliged  to  breakfast  on  tea,  while  the 
young  lady  breakfasted  on  coffee ;  and  to  sum  up  the 
matter,  my  friend's  wife  never  drank  either  tea  or  coffee, 
but  always  chocolate  !  After  baby  was  quieted,  and  tea 


288  HUNTING   SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

fairly  under  way,  I  ventured  to  hint,  that  we  should 
also  require  a  little  coffee,  although  I  announced  it  with 
fear  and  trembling.  But  the  greatest  difficulty  yet  re- 
mained ;  and  it  was  not  until  after  many  attempts  that  I 
got  Mrs.  Le  B.  informed,  "  that  we  should  also  want  a 
little  chocolate." 

"  Tea,  coffee,  and  chocolate !"  exclaimed  the  aston- 
ished woman;  and  lest  some  disagreeable  salutation 
should  be  offered  me,  I  hastened  to  the  other  room, 
taking  shelter  amongst  my  friends.  I  never  shall  for- 
get the  look  mine  hostess  gave  me,  when  I  had  an- 
nounced chocolate  in  addition  to  tea  and  coffee  ;  nor  do 
I  suspect  that  she  will  ever  forget  the  party  that  had 
the  unreasonableness  to  ask  for  such  an  unheard  of  va- 
riety. Since  that  time  I  have  found  it  necessary  to  call 
on  Mrs.  Le  B.,  but  never  dared  to  hint  that  we  were  old 
acquaintances. 

The  North  American  wolf  is  naturally  shy,  and  if  we 
may  place  confidence  in  those  stories  we  hear,  of  the 
ravages  committed  by  the  wolves  inhabiting  some  of  the 
mountainous  regions  of  Europe,  he  is,  by  comparison  with 
his  brethren  of  the  Old  World,  a  very  harmless  sort  of 
creature.  This  great  mildness  of  disposition  is  not,  how- 
ever, owing  to  any  physical  deficiency;  for,  although 
certainly  less  voracious  than  the  European  wolf,  he  is 
somewhat  larger  and  stronger.  In  America  they  are 
rarely  known  to  attack  human  beings ;  for,  during  a 
long  residence  in  a  district  where  they  were  rather  nu- 
merous, I  never  was  able  to  make  out  a  clear  case  where 
a  person  had  been  attacked  by  them.  I  have  indeed 


ADVENTURES  IN  THE  BACKWOODS.       289 

lieard  of  persons  being  pursued,  or  hunted,  as  the  Ame- 
ricans call  it,  by  a  number  of  wolve*s,  but  in  all  such 
cases  the  individuals  were  on  horseback  ;  and  therefore 
the  probability  is,  that  the  wolves  pursued  the  horses, 
and  not  the  men.  However,  from  the  facts  I  am  about 
to  relate,  it  would  seem  otherwise. 

A  medical  gentleman,  residing  not  far  from  the  Che- 
mung  river,  a  tributary  of  the  noble  Susquehanna,  had, 
one  night  in  the  middle  of  winter,  been  visiting  a  sick 
person  at  a  distance  of  eight  or  ten  miles  from  his  own 
house.  The  country  in  that  vicinity  was  then  quite  new, 
and  but  very  few  settlers  had  encroached  on  the  abori- 
nal  forests.  The  doctor  had  been  accustomed  for  some 
years,  to  travel  through  those  wild  regions  at  all  seasons, 
and  at  all  hours,  by  day  and  by  night,  but  never  had 
been  in  any  way  molested ;  nor  had  he  ever  had  the 
slightest  apprehension  of  danger  from  the  wolves  that 
were  known  occasionally  to  inhabit  the  surrounding 
woods.  On  the  night  in  question,  he  set  off  homeward 
at  a  late  hour,  as  he  frequently  had  been  wont  to  do ; 
but  before  he  had  proceeded  far,  he  became  aware  of  his 
being  pursued  by  a  gang  of  wolves.  The  night  was  ex- 
ceedingly frosty,  but  clear  and  star-light.  For  awhile 
they  were  only  heard  at  a  distance,  but  by-and-by  the 
doctor  could  clearly  distinguish  five  or  six  of  them, in 
full  chase  within  less  than  twenty  rods  of  him.  The 
snow  being  pretty  deep  at  the  time,  he  found  it  was  im- 
possible to  leave  them,  so  he  made  up  his  mind  to  quit 
his  horse,  and  ascend  the  first  tree  which  appeared  fa- 
vorable for  such  a  purpose.  It  was  not  long  before 

such  a  one  offered,  and,  permitting  his  horse  to  go  at 
19 


290  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE  WEST. 

large,  he  was  amongst  the  branches  in  a  few  seconds, 
and  quite  out  of  the  reach  of  his  hungry  pursuers.  He 
never  doubted  but  they  would  continue  in  pursuit  of  his 
horse,  which  he  flattered  himself,  would  be  able,  now 
that  he  was  relieved  from  his  load,  to  make  his  escape. 
But  to  his  surprise,  he  beheld  no  fewer  than  eight  large 
wolves  come  round  the  tree  on  which  he  had  taken  shel- 
ter, and,  instead  of  pursuing  his  horse,  quietly  awaited 
his  coming  down.  Although  he  had  no  wish  to  descend 
under  such  circumstances,  he  was  fully  aware  of  the 
fate  that  awaited  him  should  he -find  it  expedient  to  remain 
until  morning  in  his  present  situation.  To  escape  from 
the  effects  of  the  keen  frost  he  knew  was  impossible,  and 
therefore  he  determined  to  maintain  his  position,  in  spite 
of  "the  occasional  serenading  of  the  party  below.  What 
his  feelings  were  during  the  night,  or  how  the  wolves 
contrived  to  amuse  themselves  for  so  many  hours,  I  can- 
not precisely  state ;  but  about  day-dawn  they  united  in 
a  farewell  howl,  and  left  the  poor  benumbed  doctor  at 
liberty  to  descend.  With  great  difficulty  he  succeeded 
in  reaching  the  ground,  and  with  still  more,  he  managed 
to  reach  the  nearest  dwelling,  distant  about  three  miles, 
from  whence  he  was  conveyed  to  his  own  house  in 
a  sleigh.  Had  his  family  been  aware  that  the  horse 
ha4  returned  without  his  rider,  they  undoubtedly  would 
have  gone  in  search  of  the  doctor,  and  most  probably 
have  relieved  him  from  his  imprisonment  at  a  much 
earlier  hour.  But  although  the  horse  had  no  doubt 
galloped  straight  to  its  stable  door,  the  family  knew  no- 
thing of  its  arrival  until  daylight  returned. 

The  doctor  did  not  escape  without  experiencing  the 


ADVENTURES   IN  THE   BACKWOODS.  291 

ill  effects  of  roosting  for  half  a  dozen  hours  in  a  leaf- 
less tree,  in  a  severe  North  American  January's  frost; 
for  a  mortification  ensuing  in  both  his  feet,  the  only 
chance  of  saving  his  life,  was  by  amputating  both  his 
legs.  However,  the  doctor  yet  lives  to  narrate  his  ad- 
venture, or  as  he  terms  it,  "his  wolf  scrape;"  and  is  one 
of  the  few  instances  on  record  in  his  part  of  the  world 
of  having  been  in  real  danger  of  becoming  a  supper  for 
a  few  of  those  hungry  animals. 

The  winter  was  more  than  usually  severe  among  the 
mountains  on  the  north  waters  of  the  Susquehanna.  The 
snow  fell  pretty  early  in  the  month  of  December,  so  that 
winter  might  be  said  to  have  set  in  pretty  decidedly  some 
time  before  Christmas.  I  had  been  on  a  visit  for  a  few 

weeks  in  the  vicinity  of  S L ;  but  had  accepted 

of  an  invitation  to  meet  a  party  of  my  own  country- 
people,  at  the  residence  of  my  kind  friends,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  T ,  on  the  last  day  in  December,  with  an  under- 
standing that  we  were  "to  dance  in  the  new  year;"  for 
even  in  the  back  settlements  of  America,  we  could  at 
times  meet  and  dance,  and  enjoy  whatever  the  country 
afforded,  forgetting  for  a  time  the  gayer  and  more  splen- 
did scenes  we  had  once  been  familiar  with  in  our  dear 
native  country.  The  distance  I  had  to  travel  was  but 
six  miles;  yet  the  road — if  a  dim  track  through  the 
woods  might  be  so  called — was  at  all  seasons  bad,  now 
the  snow  was  so  deep  that  it  was  rendered  still  worse,  so 
that  it  took  a  considerable  time  to  get  through  it.  At 
that  season  of  the  year,  the  wolves  occasionally  infest  the 
neighborhood;  and  although  at  all  seasons  depredations 
are  liable  to  be  committed  upon  the  small  flocks  of  sheep 


292  HUNTING   SPORTS   OP  THE   WEST. 

in  the  vicinity,  yet  it  is  in  winter,  when  they  pack  and 
hunt  together,  that  the  greatest  danger  is  to  be  appre- 
hended. The  day  previous  to  my  proposed  visit,  a  party 
of  thirteen  (for  their  numbers  were  easily  ascertained 
by  their  tracks  in  the  snow)  had  issued  from  their  haunts 
in  the  adjoining  forest,  and  destroyed  nearly  fifty  sheep 
belonging  to  the  gentleman  with  whom  I  was  sojourning. 
Although  they  had  probably  sucked  the  blood  of  the 
chief  part  of  the  sheep  they  had  killed,  they  of  course 
had  not  been  able  to  devour  the  carcasses  of  more  than 
a  fourth  part ;  it  looked  as  if  they  had  slaughtered  them 
through  sheer  wantonness.  My  invitation  to  my  friends 
was  to  dine,  at  two  o'clock ;  for  it  is  not  customary  to 
keep  to  the  extremes  of  fashion  in  the  backwoods,  I, 
however,  for  some  reason  or  other,  saw  fit  to  defer  going 
until  evening,  when,  as  my  road  lay  close  along  the  edge 
of  the  swamp  the  wolves  were  known  to  inhabit,  I  stood 
a  good  chance  of  being  serenaded  by  their  wild  and 
melancholy  howlings,  and  probably  might  arouse  some 
of  them  from  their  lairs.  My  friends  pressed  me  to 
travel  by  daylight,  but  I  kept  my  determination;  and 
just  as  the  shades  of  evening  were  closing  in,  I  desired 
my  horse  to  be  got  ready;  and  when  the  boy  brought 
him  saddled  to  the  door,  he  called  my  attention  to  the 
howling  of  the  wolves,  which  could  be  distinctly  heard 
in  the  exact  direction  of  the  road  I  had  to  travel, 
although  the  noise  seemed  to  proceed  from  a  swamp  at  a 
couple  of  miles  distance.  Being  prepared  with  a  stout 
cudgel  in  lieu  of  a  riding- whip,  I  mounted  my  horse,  and 
set  forward,  already  beginning  to  repent  of  having  de- 
layed my  journey  until  so  late  an  hour.  By  the  time  I 


ADVENTURES   IN  THE   BACKWOODS.  293 

had  passed  the  scene  of  carnage  of  the  preceding  day, 
and  was  about  to  enter  the  dark  and  almost  trackless 
woods,  daylight  had  totally  disappeared,  and  nothing 
remained  for  me  but  to  pursue  my  way,  and  make  the 
best  of  it. 

I  had  not  proceeded  far,  ere  I  came  to  a  steep  descent, 
where  the  water,  from  an  adjoining  spring,  had  over- 
flowed the  snow,  which  was  consequently  formed  into  a 
continued  sheet  of  ice,  all  the  way  down  the  declivity. 
My  horse  being  smooth-shod,  I  deemed  it  safer  to  walk ; 
therefore,  dismounting  and  taking  the  bridle  in  my  hand, 
I  endeavored  to  lead  the  way  down  the  slippery  path. 
Before,  however,  I  had  got  half  way  to  the  bottom,  away 
slid  both  my  feet,  and  down  I  came.  My  horse  was  so 
started  at  the  suddenness  of  my  fall,  that  he  made  a 
spring  to  one  side  of  the  track,  lost  his  footing,  and  came 
down  close  beside  me.  But  in  the  spring  he  made  when 
I  fell,  from  my  hand  being  fast  in  the  bridle,  I  was 
jerked  back  some  distance  up  the  hill  with  such  force, 
that,  when  I  recovered  a  little  from  the  shock,  I  felt  fully 
persuaded  that  my  shoulder  was  dislocated.  We  both, 
however,  gathered  ourselves  up  as  well  as  we  were  able ; 
and  there  we  stood,  in  no  condition  to  protect  ourselves 
from  the  wolves,  should  they  see  fit  to  attack  us ;  for 
from  the  way  in  which  my  horse  stood,  I  was  afraid  that 
he  had  suffered  still  more  damage  than  myself.  When 
the  pain  of  my  shoulder  had  somewhat  subsided,  I 
examined  it  more  minutely,  and  convinced  myself  that  it 
was  not  dislocated;  but  the  severe  wrench  had  injured 
it  so  much,  that  I  had  no  hope  of  making  use  of  that  arm 
during  the  remainder  of  my  ride.  And  as  regarded  my 


294  HUNTING  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

horse,  I  was  pleased  to  find  that  he  still  possessed  the 
use  of  his  four  legs,  although  one  of  them  moved  with  less 
ease  than  it  had  done  before.  Having  contrived  to  get 
to  the  bottom  of  the  descent,  I  again  mounted,  with 
extreme  difficulty — for  I  could  only  use  my  left  hand — 
in  which  I  had  to  grasp  both  the  bridle  and  my  war-club. 
Had  the  wolves  attacked  us  we  should  have  been  in  con- 
siderable danger ;  for  I  found,  on  proceeding,  that  one 
of  my  horse's  fore-legs  was  severely  sprained :  but  either 
they  were  not  aware  of  our  condition,  or  they  were  in  no 
need  of  a  supper;  for  on  getting  beyond  the  confines  of 
the  swamp,  I  aroused  several  of  them  from  their  quiet 
hiding-places;  and  instead  of  stopping  to  scrutinise  me 
and  my  horse,  away  they  ran  through  the  thick  under- 
wood, while  I  hallooed  with  all  my  might,  giving  every 
tree  within  the  reach  of  my  club,  a  good  left-handed  blow 
or  two.  In  this  manner,  I  continued  ajong  the  dim  and 
unbroken  track,  feigning  to  be  a  very  hero, — although  I 
candidly  confess  that  I  only  recollect  one  or  two  instances 
in  my  whole  life  when  I  felt  so  thoroughly  intimidated. 
Afterwards,  I  could  not  help  thinking  that  I  had  only 
received  the  reward  of  my  folly, — for  I  had  sprained  my 
own  shoulder  severely, — injured  my  horse's  leg, — disap- 
pointed myself  of  the  pleasant  society  of  my  friends  for 
a  few  hours, — and  all  this  for  the  credit  of  being  able  to 
boast  of  having  dared  to  ride  past  the  "wolf  swamp" 
after  night-fall,  when  it  was  known  that  thirteen  ravenous 
wolves  were  inhabiting  it. 


HUNTING   A  BLACK   BEAE  IN  HIS   DEN.          295 


HUNTING   A   BLACK   BEAR   IN  HIS   DEN. 

ON  a  cold  and  cloudy  day  in  January,  1804,  I  sur- 
veyed a  tract  of  one  thousand  acres  of  land  on  the  Little 
Miami,  which  included  the  Old  Chillicothe  town,  about 
three  miles  north  of  this  place,  assisted  by  William  and 
John  Stevenson,  or  Stinson,  as  they  were  commonly 
called,  as  Chainmen,  both  of  whom  were  old  hunters. 

In  running  the  back  line  of  the  survey,  which  was 
mostly  through  a  large  thicket,  I  was  about  one  hundred 
yards  in  advance  of  the  chainmen  and  marker.  Having 
halted  to  set  the  compass,  my  attention  was  attracted  by 
a  pile  of  fresh  earth  at  the  root  of  a  large  white-oak 
about  twenty  yards  distant,  which  had  fallen  several 
years  before  ;  the  trunk  of  which  gradually  rose  from  the 
root  till  about  twenty-five  feet  back,  it  was  elevated 
several  feet  from  the  ground.  A  small  dog  which  ac- 
companied us  ran  to  the  place  and  commenced  barking 
quite  fiercely.  I  hastened  to  see  what  the  dog  had  dis- 
covered, and,  springing  upon  the  fallen  tree,  and  looking 
over  it,  I  discovered  a  large  bear  snugly  ensconsed  in  his 
den  within  six  feet  of  where  I  stood,  staring  at  me  with 
no  very  pleasant  countenance,  which  induced  me  to  ~e- 
treat  in  double-quick  time ;  but  finding  I  was  not  pur- 
sued, I  halted  when  I  reached  the  compass  that  I  had 
left  standing. 

The  chainmen  and  marker  hastened  up,  and  inquired 
what  was  the  cause  of  my  running  so  fast  ?  Upon  in- 
forming that  I  had  found  a  bear,  they  accompanied  me 
back  to  the  log,  which  we  all  mounted  and  had  a  fair 


296  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

view  of  him  in  his  den,  while  he  calmly  returned  our 
gaze,  without  showing  any  sign  of  either  fear  or  hostility ; 
supposing,  no  doubt,  that  his  den  was  impregnable,  as  the 
tree  in  falling  had  raised  several  cart-loads  of  earth  on  its 
roots,  which  time  had  settled  in  the  shape  of  a  regular 
mound ;  under  which  he  had  excavated  a  cavern  several 
feet  in  depth,  sufficiently  large  to  turn  round  in  and  to 
lodge  comfortably. 

A  council  of  war  was  held  forthwith  to  devise  a  plan 
for  attacking  Bruin.  One,  proposed  by  John  Stinson, 
was  with  the  marker's  tomahawk  and  my  steel-pointed 
Jacob  staff;  but  William  Stinson,  the  oldest  and  most  ex- 
perienced hunter  of  the  party,  objected,  saying,  that  from 
his  great  size  and  strength,  if  the  bear  was  insulted  with 
such  puny  weapons,  he  would  certainly  be  the  death  of 
Borne  of  us ;  and  this  plan  was  abandoned  by  comYnon 
consent.  What  then  was  to  be  done  ?  To  leave  him 
undisturbed  in  his  nest  was  not  to  be  thought  of  by  old 
hunters.  After  further  hurried  consultation,  it  was 
agreed  that  John  should  go  home  for  his  gun  and  dogs, 
while  the  rest  remained  to  keep  watch  over  Bruin's 
movements. 

Accordingly,  John  set  off  at  a  long  trot,  while  we  who 
remained  kindled  a  fire  and  patiently  waited  for  his  re- 
turn. In  about  an  hour  he  gave  notice  of  his  approach 
by  a  shout,  which  we  promptly  answered.  He  was  ac- 
companied by  William  McFarland,  a  neaj  neighbor,  both 
on  horseback,  armed  with  their  trusty  rifles,  and  followed 
by  some  half  dozen  of  dogs  of  known  pluck  and  eager 
for  a  row.  Our  armed  heroes,  on  joining  us,  hastily  dis- 
mounted and  were  rejoiced  to  hear  that  Cuffey  still  re- 


HUNTING  A   BLACK  BEAR   IN  HIS  DEN. 

m  aiiied  in  his  den.  John  claimed  as  his  right  the  honoi 
of  leading  the  attack  and  giving  the  first  shot,  and  in- 
stantly mounted  the  log,  while  I  at  the  same  moment  fol- 
lowed his  example  and  stood  close  behind  him.  Unfor- 
tunately, his  nerves  had  become  so  much  disturbed  by  hia 
long  race  and  the  excitement  of  the  moment,  that  when 
he  raised  "Betty,"  as  he  called  his  rifle,  to  his  shoulder, 
he  could  not  hold  her  steady,  but  shook  and  wabbled  so 
much  that  he  hesitated  for  some  seconds  to  shoot.  See- 
ing the  tremor  which  had  seized  him,  I  entreated  him  to 
give  me  the  gun ;  but  this  he  refused.  I  then  told  him 
to  make  a  sure  shot,  and  "give  it  to  him"  above  the 
eyes ;  he  instantly  fired,  and  the  ball  only  glanced  the 
side  of  his  mouth,  although  the  muzzle  of  his  gun  was  not 
more  than  three  feet  from  the  bear's  head.  "  Quick  as 
wink"  he  gave  a  "tremendous"  snort  and  sprang  at 
John,  who  at  the  same  moment  jumped  off  the  log  and 
fell  at  full  length  on  the  ground.  We  all  thought  his 
hour  was  come,  as  the  bear,  with  open  mouth,  flew  on 
him,  but  fortunately,  McFarland,  on  seeing  John's  trepi- 
dation before  .he  fired,  had  cocked  his  gun  and,  before 
Bruin  could  seize  his  prostrate  foe,  put  the  muzzle 
against  his  side  and  shot  him  through  the  lungs,  while 
the  dogs  seized  him  at  the  same  instant  and  saved  John's 
life.  After  a  brief  scuffle  with  the  dogs,  whom  he 
knocked  about  as  if  they  had  been  mere  puppies,  while 
the  blood  flew  in  streams  from  his  side,  mouth,  and  nose, 
he  entered  his  cavern  and  soon  breathed  his  last.  On 
dressing  him,  he  was  found  to  be  in  prime  order,  and 
weighed  near  four  hundred  pounds. 


298  HUNTING  SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 


ADVENTURES  OF  AN  ENGLISH  SPORTSMAN  ON  THE  PRAIRIES, 

WE  found  tolerable  accommodations  in  the  Charleston 
Tavern,  and  the  landlord  was  civil  after  a  manner — which 
means  no  manners  at  all.  Our  advent  created  some  little 
sensation,  no  little  questioning,  and  a  monstrous  deal  of 
incredulity  as  to  our  motives  of  travel.  Strange,  that  in 
this  new  world,  they  won't  allow  a  poor  idle  Briton  to  go 
gaping  about,  doing  gole  mouclie,  as  he  does  in  the  old ! 
We  found  the  little  western  hamlet  not  entirely  destitute 
of  amusement  on  the  evening  of  our  arrival ;  for  in  the 
next  house  to  our  inn,  on  one  side,  a  most  absurd  legal 
cause  was  in  process  of  trial  before  a  justice, — a  case  of 
"  Fiddlers "  versus  "Dancers,"  wherein  the  former 
claimed  compensation  from  the  latter  for  professional  la- 
bors at  a  certain  house-warming;  and  wherein,  after 
much  noisy  and  nasal  balderdash  from  a  couple  of  rival 
attorneys,  the  steward  of  the  ball  was  compelled  to  pay 
the  piper.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  the  neighboring 
house  was  brilliantly  lighted  up  for  a  phrenological  lec- 
ture, which  was  numerously  attended.  It  is  somewhat 
singular  that  a  practical  people  like  the  Americans  should 
affect  so  intangible  a  science,  yet  they  certainly  do  so  in 
an  extraordinary  degree.  Most  things  are  good  in  their 
way,  and  in  their  place ;  and  I  will  confess  that  the  in- 
genious theories  of  Gall  .and  Spurzheim  have  had  their 
charms  for  me ;  but  to  be  followed  up,  and  pelted  with 
skulls  and  crossbones,  is  the  height  of  boredom ;  and 
euch  was  the  craniological  uproar  from  morn  till  night  in 
the  Charleston  Tavern,  as  to  be  perfectly  "assommant." 


AN   ENGLISH   SPORTSMAN   ON   THE  PRAIRIES.      299 

The  enthusiastic  lecturer,  followed  by  a  train  of  disciples, 
carried  about  with  him,  whether  in  bar,  bed-room,  or 
reading-room,  a  couple  of  thick  skulls — besides  his  own ; 
and  had  each  been  furnished  with  a  tongue,  a  more  un- 
ceasing gabble  of  "organs,"  "developments,"  "propen- 
sities," could  not  have  been  sustained.  If  we  entered  his 
presence,  a  dead  silence  ensued — a  score  of  eyes  perused 
our  craniums — and  I  verily  believe,  the  singularly  ample 
"brow  of  one  of  our  party  would  hardly  have  escaped  for* 
cible  manipulation,  had  we  not  ordered  our  wagon,  and 
changed  the  scene  and  subject  for  a  most  refreshing 
drive. 

Most  beautiful  was  the  course  we  took  down  the  river, 
and  through  the  small  village  of  Geneva, — nowise  like 
its  ancient  namesake,  unless  in  its  republicanism  !  Hav- 
ing feasted  our  eyes  upon  all  the  scenic  perfections  pos- 
sessed by  a  slow  silver  stream,  gliding  between  high  and 
woody  banks,  ruddy  with  Autumn's  tints,  and  dotted 
with  lovely  islands,  we  again  returned  to  Charleston, 
having  during  our  drive  marked  our  shooting-ground  for 
the  morrow. 

The  following  day,  keeping  to  the  woods,  we  had  some 
tolerable  sport,' quail-shooting — not  heightened  by  a  tho 
rough  wetting, — bagging  about  seventy  head  of  game, 
chiefly  those  birds ;  but  finding,  on  inquiry,  that  there 
was  no  farmer  on  the  neighboring  prairie  whose  dwelling 
could  accommodate  three  strangers, — and  further,  the 
weather  changing  for  the  worse,  and  thereby  warning  us 
to  change  our  front  to  the  eastward,  we  resolved  to  re- 
turn with  our  friend  Barns  to  Elk  Grove,  and  thus  secure 
a  mode  of  retreat  to  -Chicago  at  a  moment's  notice.  On 


300  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

regaining  our  hotel,  after  a  long  and  wet  day's  work,  I 
looked  forward  with  some  complacency  to  a  good  night's 
rest.  Vain  hope  ! — our  ruthless*  man  of  skulls  had  con- 
verted the  bar-room,  separated  hy  a  thin  deal  floor  from 
my  chamber,  into  his  Golgotha,  and  harangued  a  half- 
drunken  audience  till  long  after  midnight,  to  the  utter 
expulsion  of  the  balmy  god.  I  did  not  pray  for  him  that 
night !  Even  the  hardy  Barns  never  closed  an  eye.  Had 
a  dozen  whooping  "Redskins  "  of  the  prairie  rushed  upon 
the  nocturnal  orgies  of  the  Professor,  and.  commenced  their 
own  peculiar  experiments  upon  his  cranium,  I  would  not 
have  pulled  a  trigger  in  his  defence  ! 

On  the  8th  of  October,  we  left  Fox  River,  and,  by  a 
fresh  route  across  the  plains,  commenced  our  retreat. 
Crossing  the  "Nine-mile  Prairie,"  there  was  scarcely  a 
stick  of  timber,  a  hut,  or  other  object,  within  the  range 
of  vision.  Now  and  then  our  driver  would  draw  our  at- 
tention to  an  almost  invisible  atom  on  the  "  billowy 
plain,"  which  proved  to  be  a  single  horseman  hunting  for 
his  cattle,  turned  out  to  graze  on  the  fenceless  pastures. 
Anon,  we  descried  afar  off,  a  heavy  canvass-topped 
wagon,  crawling  slowly  westward,  like  a  huge  white  mag- 
got— its  interior  filled  with  the  personnel  and  materiel 
of  a  migrating  family.  On  approaching  us,  eager  faces 
were  protruded  from  the  rude  vehicle ;  and  earnest  in- 
quiries regarding  distances,  the  "chills  and  fever" 
(ague,)  or  other  equally  urgent  matters,  were  shouted 
out.  Many  a  weary  mile  had  these  adventurous  people 
traveled  from  their  late  home  towards  the  setting  sun ; 
and  they  were  now,  perhaps,  drawing  nigh  the  bourne 
of  their  pilgrimage  I 


AN  ENGLISH   SPORTSMAN   ON    THE   PRAIRIES.      801 

The  next  object  on  the  "boundless  waste  that  attracted 
our  gaze  was  a  group  of  tall  cranes,  or  herons — prairie 
turkeys,  the  squatters  call  them — looming  gigantic  in 
their  solitude,  and  at  intervals  dancing,  with  absurd 
gravity,  a  kind  of  minuet — no  !  mazourka  is  the  word. 
The  bowing  and  pirouetting  of  these  solemn-looking  bi- 
peds made  us  all  laugh  heartily.  I  fancied  them  so  many 
Principals  of  Colleges,  unbending  after  their  academic 
labors.  Our  borderer  assured  us  that  the  prairie  turkeys 
seldom  meet  on  the  green  without  getting  up  a  dance. 
My  attempt  to  treat  them  to  a  ball  of  another  description 
proved  a  failure,  for  before  I  arrived  within  range, 
they  broke  up  their  party,  and  swooped  heavily  away. 
How  I  longed  at  that  moment  for  my  fleet  Arab  and  my 
long-winged  Bheiree  !  *  Never  saw  I  a  country  so  per- 
fectly adapted  to  Falconry, — and  there  flew  the  quarry 
famed  for  the  finest  of  flights  !  The  ardent  sportsman 
might  spur  his  steed  for  miles  over  these  plains  without 
once  removing  his  eyes  from  their  serial  chase  ;  and  it 
must  be  his  fault  if  he  lose  his  hawk  for  want  of  riding, — 
unless,  indeed,  it  should  chance  to  get  spitted  by  its 
sharp-billed  foe,  no  uncommon  incident  in  heron-flights. 
But  "hold  hard  "  Pen  !  or  I  shall  soon  be  in  the  thick 
of  a  hawking  digression.  Besides,  in  a  few  days  I  shall 
have  enough  of  this  ever-prevailing  pastime 'on  board  a 
Yankee  steamboat ! 

Our  second  approach  to  Elk  Grove  was  greeted 
warmly  by  the  ladies  of  that  sylvan  retreat;  for  we 
brought  back  the  Padrone  with  us.  During  the  two  fol- 

*  The  bird  used  in  India  for  long  flights. 


302  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

lowing  days  we  enjoyed  a  very  good  grouse-snooting 
beating  fresh  ground  on  the  rolling  prairie,  about  three 
miles  from  our  temporary  home,  and  sacking  fifty-six 
brace  of  prairie  hens,  and  a  few  quail.  The  weather  was 
cool  and  breezy — the  birds  plentiful,  though  wild — and 
the  undulating  form  of  the  ground  proved  much  more 
favourable  to  marking  than  the  uniform  flat  prairie  was 
found  to  be. 

A  great  drawback  to  prairie  grouse  shooting,  is 
the  unavoidable  waste  of  game.  Four  or  five  brace 
of  these  heavy  birds  are  quite  load  enough  for  the 
shooter  to  carry,  and  will  fill  to  the  throat  any  ordinary 
game-bag.  Nor  do  these  distant  plains  afford  the  vigi- 
lant "  cad  "  of  the  English  country  village,  or  the  "  slip 
of  a  b'y  "  of  the  Irish  hut,  in  aid  of  the  sportsman's 
shoulders.  Not  to  us  was  the  pleasing  importance  of 
the  British  grouse  shooter,  as  he  packs,  directs,  and 
despatches  his  valued  hamper  to  some  expecting  friend  ! 
We  had  no  southron  patron,  no  parliamentary  voter,  to 
propitiate  through  the  palate  ! — no  cormorant  tradesman 
to  whose  monetary  impatience  a  sop  might  be  thrown 
from  a  distant  moor !  Occasionally,  therefore,  when 
we  were  not  fortunate  enough  to  fall  in  with  the  cottage 
of  some  settler,  who  was  willing  to  exchange  a  draught 
of  milk  for  a  brace  or  two  of  birds,  we  found  ourselves 
obliged  to  abandon  part  of  our  game  to  the  kite  and  the 
prairie  wolf.  What  else  was  to  be  done  ?  Humanity 
and  the  member  for  Gal  way  would  exclaim,  "  Kill  no 
more  than  you  and  your  friends  can  eat !"  Not  more 
fruitless  is  the  usual  injunction  of  the  careful  mamma  to 
the  Indian  cadet,  to  "wear  flannel,  and  save  money!" 


AN   ENGLISH  SPORTSMAN   ON  THE   PRAIRIES.      303 

yet  both  are  most  right,  most  reasonable,  most  impossi- 
ble to  obey !  Our  only  consolation  lay  in  the  delight 
shown  by  the  farmers  at  the  havoc  we  made  among  the 
enemies  of  their  grain  crops. 

In  more  than  one  lonely  log  hut,  when  driven  thereto 
for  food  or  shelter,  we  found  young  and  strikingly 
pretty  women,  spinning  or  cooking,  whilst  the  good  man 
worked  in  the  fields ;  and  although  they  seemed  some- 
times a  little  startled  by  the  unwonted  appearance  of  a 
"gentleman  sportsman,"  their  cheese,  milk,  and  buck- 
wheat bread,  were  always  most  liberally  offered;  nor 
could  they  be  persuaded  to  receive  payment.  Marryat, 
in  awarding  to  the  American  fair  the  title  of  the  "pret- 
tiest women  in  the  world,"  (the  epithet  guardedly  chosen, 
no  doubt)  does  not,  so  far  as  I  have  had  occasion  of 
judging,  give  them  more  than  their  due.  On  these 
savage  prairies,  even,  I  noted  more  than  one  "  western 
flower,"  that,  transplanted  to  more  civilized  regions, 
would  not  have  disgraced. the  choicest  parterre. 

I  have  named  the  waste  of  game  as  a  serious  draw- 
back to  the  prairie  shooter  ;  but  in  the  opposite  scale,  I 
must  throw  the  delightful  sense  of  independence  and 
freedom  with  which  he  treads  the  springy  sod  of  the 
prairie,  and  inhales  its  healthful  breezes.  He  shoots 
without  leave  or  "  license."  He  feels  himself  lord  of 
Nature's  manor,  the  sporting  inheritance  of  the  "younger 
son."  He  flatters  no  muir-owning  laird,  he  fees  no 
peculative  keeper,  and  should  he  see  a  couple  of  strap- 
ping young  fellows,  marching  straight  upon  his  position, 
he  expects  no  rough  warning  to  quit  the  property ;  on 
the  contrary,  one  of  them  (so  it  happened  to  me)  per- 


304  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

haps  civilly  asks  to  be  allowed  to  look  on  at  the  sport, 
as  he  had  never  seen  "shooting  on  the  wing:"  whilst 
the  other,  with  a  bow  that  would  have  been  creditable 
to  a  Stanhope,  a  Cavendish,  or  a  Paget,  invites  you  to 
beat  the  coverts  round  his  domicile  on  the  morrow,  and 
to  dine  at  "his  poor  cottage,"  at  two  o'clock,  an  invita- 
tion which  the  former  urges  you  to  accept,  with  the  whis- 
pered hint  that  his  friend's  "  sisters  are  the  finest  gurls 
in  the  section,  and  his  pork  first  rate !" 

It  was  with  no  little  regret,  that  on  the  llth  of  Octo- 
ber, forced  away  by  bad  weather,  we  bade  adieu  to  Elk 
Grove ;  and,  turning  our  backs  upon  the  Far  West,  were 
driven  by  our  faithful  friend  Barns,  through  a  perfect 
hurricane  of  wet  to  Chicago.  Under  such  meteorologi- 
cal auspices,  I  cannot  say  that  the  prairie  wore  a  pleas- 
ing aspect.  Our  horses  could  hardly  be  brought  to  face 
the  pitiless  storm — a  mouse  could  not  have  found  shel- 
ter in  a  dozen  miles,  and  the  poor  prairie  hens,  battered 
by  the  storm,  and  flying  about  in  despair,  had  no  leisure 
to  rejoice  over  the  retreat  of  their  worst  enemies,  our- 
selves. What  must  be  a  mid- winter  journey  on  these 
plains?  the  sleigh-borne  traveler  steering  by  com- 
pass across  a  trackless  sea  of  snow,  and  through  a  fog 
of  sleet ! 

In  our  return  down  the  lakes,  we  were  most  fortunate 
in  our  vessel — the  Illinois  being  a  splendid,  well-formed, 
and  extremely  fast  boat,  and  the  captain  precisely  the 
character  fitted  to  rule  the  crowds  of  wild  customers  who 
frequent  his  decks.  Huge  in  person,  and  rough  and 
resolute  in  manner,  though  attentive  in  all  essentials  to 
his  passengers ;  I  don't  know  that  anything  could  be 


AN   ENGLISH   SPORTSMAN   ON  THE   PRAIRIES.      305 

more  characteristic  of  his  style,  than  the  significant  sim- 
plicity of  the  single  word  "  Blake,"  in  gold  letters  over  his 
cabin  door,  instead  of  the  invariable  u  Captain's  Cabin." 
It  reminded  us  of  all  the  awful  notices,  "  Spring-guns 
set  here,"  or  "Beware  the  dog,"  of  the  old  country.  I 
thought  of  our  own  old  Blake,  too,  and  of  his  famous 
apophthegm,  "  Sailors  must  not  mind  politics,  but  only 
keep  foreigners  from  fooling  us." 

At  Mackinaw,  that  gem  of  the  Lakes,  so  warmly  and 
deservedly  lauded  by  Mrs.  Jamieson,  we  enjoyed  a  stroll 
of  two  hours  on  shore,  visiting  the  fort,  now  held  by  a 
small  garrison  of  United  States'  Artillery,  and  the 
ruined  redoubt  of  the  British,  on  the  very  pinnacle  of 
the  island,  from  which  a  most  striking  prospect,  embracing 
an  extensive  archipelago  of  wooded  isles,  lies  spread  be- 
neath the  spectator.  The  beauty  of  this  island  is  more 
remarkable  from  its  possessing  so  happy  a  foil  in  the 
hideous  and  dismal  shores  of  neighboring  Michigan. 

Running  at  the  rate  of  twelve  knots  down  Lake  Hu- 
ron, and  darting  like  a  kingfisher  along  the  rapid  stream 
of  Detroit  river,  our  swift  vessel  reached  the  city  of  that 
name,  on  the  evening  of  the  15th ;  a  passage  of  about 
sixty-seven  hours  from  Chicago.  From  Detroit,  I  was 
tempted  to  accompany  my  brother-sportsman  of  the  34th, 
to  Amherstburgh,  the  present  station  of  that  regiment ; 
whilst  my  regimental  friend,  whose  home  was  more  at- 
tractive than  mine,  pursued  his  course  to  the  Falls.  The 
annual  races  were  going  on  at  Amherstburg,  on  my  arri- 
val,* and  the  quail  shooting  was  at  its  height,  so  that  I 

*  I  had,  by  my  arrival  at  this  place,  the  great  satisfaction  of  ac- 
complishing an  object  which  1  had  long  set  my  heart  upon,  namely,  the 
20 


306  HUNTING   SPORTS   OP  THE  WEST. 

was  fortunate  as  to  season,  and  passed  some  very  pleas- 
ant days  there.  The  races  took  place  on  an  excellent 
course,  formed  by  the  34th,  on  the  glacis  of  Fort  Mai- 
den ;  and  on  the  very  ground  rendered  famous  by  bloody 
conflicts,  maintained  during  the  last  and  former  wars  by 
the  British,  French,  Canadians,  Americans,  and  Indians, 
a  vast  concourse  of  these  several  people  were  now  met 
in  amity  to  enjoy  the  sports.  The  Indians  stood  some- 
what aloof  from  the  crowd,  and  did  not  seem  much  in- 
spired by  the  equestrian  exploits ;  but  the  French  and 
Yankees  joined  zealously  in  the  amusements.  Among 
the  "Red  skins,"  I  noted  not  a  few  erect  and  actively- 
made  fellows,  painted,  feathered,  and  tinselled,  and  look- 
ing as  proud  as  peacocks.  In  the  evening  I  met  one  of 
the  objects  of  my  admiration  staggering  homeward  from 
the  race-course,  uproariously  drunk !  Where  was  now 
the  proud  gait  and  dignified  reserve  of  the  descendant 
of  Tecumseh  ?  Where,  indeed  !  A  drunken  Indian  is, 
in  my  eyes,  almost  as  loathsome  a  sight  as  a  drunken 
woman ;  and  of  the  disgust  with  which  the  spectacle  im- 
presses me,  not  a  little  may  be  placed  to  the  account  of 
the  civilized  Briton  who  first  taught  the  "noble  savage" 
the  brutalizing  use  of  the  fire-water.  I  will  hereupon 
give  the  United  States  government,  in  two  words,  a  hint 
for  their  conduct  of  the  Florida  war.  Let  them  lay 
whiskey  on  the  "  war-path  "of  their  Indian  foes — a  more 
potent  agent  than  less  "  villainous  saltpetre,"  or  the 
West  Indian  bloodhound,  proposed  to  be  employed 

visiting  of  this  Ultima  Thule  of  Her  Majesty's  Western  dominions,  as 
1  had  done,  eleven  years  before,  that  of  her  Eastern,  the  passes  of  the 
Himalaya  Mountains. 


AN  ENGLISH   SPORTSMAN  ON  THE  PRAIRIES.      307 

against  them.  Poisoning  wells  would,  to  be  sure,  be 
hardly  a  more  unrighteous  mode  of  warfare ;  but  what 
feature  of  this  most  unwarantable,  and  hitherto  unsuc- 
cessful conflict,  is  otherwise  than  unrighteous  ? 

The  sport  most  novel  to  me,  at  the  Maiden  races,  was 
a  trotting  match  on  horseback,  &  la  Yankee — three 
horses,  and  heats  of  three  miles — merciless  work,  ridicu- 
lous and  ungraceful  as  a  spectacle,  and  destructive  of 
all  the  romance,  if  there  be  any,  of  horsemanship.  The 
English  regulation  of  backing  the  wheels  in  harness,  and 
turning  the  horse  in  riding,  should  the  trot  be  broken, 
is  not  observed,  nor  indeed,  necessary  in  this  country ; 
for  an  American  trotter  loses  speed  by  galloping. 

Amherstburg  is  an  excellent  shooting  quarter ;  snipe 
and  wild  fowl  are  in  swarms,  woodcock  and  quail  abund- 
ant, the  latter,  the  finest  of  the  species  I  have  ever  seen ; 
and  wild  turkeys  and  deer  are  to  be  had  by  a  little  la- 
bor. Among  the  officers  of  the  34th,  there  are  many 
keen  sportsmen,  and  good  shots,  and  the  destruction  of 
game  must  be  considerable.  My  best  day's  sport  at 
this  place,  amounted  to  fourteen  brace  and  a  half  of  quails, 
a  couple  of  ducks,  a  woodcock,  and,  though  last  not  least,  as 
my  shoulders  can  testify,  a  wild  turkey.  On  the  follow- 
ing day,  I  got  another  of  this  noble  kind  of  feathered 
game ;  and  on  each  occasion  was  much  favored  by  luck, 
for  I  shot  them  both  in  fields  of  Indian  corn — my  charge 
an  ounce  of  quail-shot — instead  of  hunting  for  them  in 
the  woods,  to  the  abandonment  of  smaller  game,  and 
using  ball  or  slugs,  as  is'  usually  necessary.  A  very 
uncommon  opportunity  of  killing,  right  and  left,  wild 
turkeys  on  the  wing,  was  given  to  me  on  the  second 


308  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

day,  and  had  my  second  barrel  been  loaded  with  an  Ely's 
cartridge,  some  of  which  I  had  with  me,  it  is  probable 
that,  giving  myself  credit  for  ability  to  hit  a  haystack  at 
thirty  yards,  the  gigantic  gobbler  (the  cock  bird^is  so 
called  by  the  natives)  would,  as  in  life,  so  in  death,  have 
been  united  with  his  feathered,  and  I  may  add,  fat  and 
fair  partner.  The  addition  to  my  shooting-book  of  the 
wild  turkey,  is  so  far  satisfactory,  that  I  believe  I  may 
now  boast  of  having  bagged,  in  their  natural  state,  and 
in  their  native  clime  and  covert,  each  kind  of  the  "  fea- 
thered tribes  Domestic,"  that  strut  or  flutter  in  the 
English  farm-yard,  from  the  royal  peacock,  now  seldom 
seen  on  festive  board,  to  the  diminutive  and  pie-frequent- 
ing pigeon. 

The  country  and  soil  around  Amherstburg,  are  such 
as  would  please  the  eye  of  the  tourist,  the  sportsman, 
and  the  settler.  The  banks  of  the  river  are  picturesque, 
game  is  most  abundant,  the  land  extremely  rich,  the 
crops  plentiful,  and  the  timber,  among  which,  I  must 
beg  to  include  the  mahogany  of  the  34th  mess  ! — unex- 
ceptionable. 

On  the  24th  of  October,  at  eight  P.  M.  precisely,  with- 
drawing my  legs  from  under  the  above-named  hospitable 
board,  I  drained  a  glass  of  Pickwick's  favorite  liquor, 
(need  I  particularize  "  cold  punch  ?")  to  the  health  of 
that  gallant  regiment,  at  whose  mess  I  was  not  suffered 
to  feel,  like  the  worthy  philosopher  above  mentioned, 
when  in  the  pound,  that  I  "hadn't  got  no  friends,"  and 
was  rowed,  in  the  dark,  by  th^  garrison  crew,  alongside 
the  Buffalo  steamer,  up  whose  lofty  side  I  was  hauled, 
hand  over  hand,  by  the  passengers,  as  she  backed  her 


BEAR  HUNTING   IN   ARKANSAS..  309 

• 

paddles,  though  still  going  six  or  eight  knots,  to  pick 
me  up. 


BEAR  HUNTING  IN  ARKANSAS. 

The  following  incidents  occurred  to  Mr.  Grerstaecher, 
(whose  narrative  we  have  already  quoted,J  while  he  was 
hunting  and  traveling  in  Arkansas. 

Arkansas  was  overrun  at  this  time  with  a  numher  of 
bad  characters,  gamblers,  drunkards,  thieves,  murderers, 
who  all  thought  that  the  simple-minded  backwoodsmen 
were  easier  to  be  cheated  than  the  wary  settlers  in  the 
older  states.  This  circumstance  had  given  so  bad  a  name 
to  Arkansas,  that  many  thought  all  its  inhabitants  went 
about  armed  to  the  teeth  with  pistols  and  bowie-knives ; 
but  I  have  traversed  the  State  in  all  directions,  and  met 
with  as  honest  and  upright  people  as  are  to  be  found  in 
any  other  part  of  the  Union. 

On  the  24th  of  October,  two  heavily  laden  carts  ar- 
rived, each  drawn  by  one  horse  :  they  contained  all  sorts 
of  things  useful  for  settlers.  Their  owners  are  called 
peddlers,  and  they  ask  high  prices  for  their  goods,  and 
are  said  to  make  a  good  thing  of  it.  S.  bought  only  a 
few  trifles. 

S.,  having  sold  most  of  his  cattle,  decided  on  parting 
with  this  farm,  and  removing  to  Oil  trove  bottom.  Our 
contract  having  been  dissolved  by  Uhl's  departure  and 
my  frequent  sickness,  was  no  longer  to  be  thought  of. 


310  HUNTING   SPORTS   OP   THE  WEST. 

I 

Preparations  were  made  for  moving ;  S.  had  been  already 
to  White  river  and  made  his  purchase.  When  about  to 
start,  we  found  that  two  more  oxen  were  necessary :  we 
had  four,  but  the  load  was  too  heavy  with  such  soft  boggy 
roads.  So  we  rode  into  the  woods,  and  drove  a  couple  of 
wild  bulls  into  the  inclosure,  threw  nooses  over  their  horns, 
and  fastened  them  to  trees.  They  made  tremendous  ef- 
forts to  free  themselves,  jerking  the  leather  thongs  with 
all  their  force ;  and  when  they  found  all  their  struggles 
were  in  vain,  they  threw  themselves  on  the  ground  and 
bellowed  with  rage.  Thus  they  remained  all  the  day  and 
night,  during  which  we  gave  them  nothing  but  a  little 
water  to  quench  their  thirst.  About  nine  o'clock  next 
morning  they  were  yoked  each  with  a  steady  old  hand ; 
the  whips  cracked,  voices  shouted,  and  partly  from  the 
shower  of  blows  that  fell  on  them,  partly  dragged  along 
by  their  stout  companions,  after  four  or  five  hours'  use- 
less opposition,  they  went  as  well  as  if  they  had  done  no- 
thing all  their  lives  but  draw  a  cart. 

The  heavy  wagon  made  slow  progress  along  the  muddy 
tracts,  softened  by  the  autumnal  rains.  We  arrived  at 
White  river  on  the  morning  of  the  4th  of  November,  and 
had  to  wait  on  the  bank  till  evening,  as  it  was  blowing  a 
storm,  and  it  would  have  been  dangerous  to  trust  the 
heavy  wagon  to  the  ferry-boat  in  such  weather. 

White  river  is  beyond  all  dispute  the  most  beautiful 
river  of  Arkansas.  Its  clear  waves  form  a  striking  con- 
trast to  those  of  the  Mississippi  and  Red  rivers ;  only  to- 
wards its  mouth  the  banks  are  low,  and  the  land  swampy ; 
higher  up  it  is  enclosed  by  picturesque  hills.  It  rises  in 
the  Ozark  mountains,  in  the  northwest  angle  of  the  State, 


WHITE   RIVER   AND   ITS   NEIGHBORHOOD.  311 

where  there  is  game  in  abundance ;  it  divides  into  two 
arms,  one  of  which  falls  into  the  Mississippi,  and  the 
other  into  the  Arkansas. 

As  the  wind  fell,  the  dry  cold  air  changed  into  a  damp 
fog,  which  soon  turned  to  rain,  and  we  were  glad  to  find 
shelter  under  the  roof  of  a  free  negro,  who  kept  a  sort  of 
tavern.  Merry  peals  of  laughter  resounded  from  the  well- 
lighted  room,  where  a  bright  fire  was  blazing,  and  very 
comfortable  did  its  warmth  appear  to  us  after  our  expo- 
sure to  the  weather.  Three  jovial  looking  fellows  were 
sitting  round  it,  telling  stories,  and  roaring  with  laughter. 
Three  long  American  rifles,  with  their  shot-belts  hanging 
on  them,  leaning  in  a  corner,  showed  that  the  party,  if 
not  regular  woodsmen,  were  at  least  out  on  a  shooting 
excursion.  A  half  empty  whiskey-bottle  stood  on  the 
table,  and  after  a  short  conversation,  I  learnt  that  the 
little  fat  man,  with  sparkling  eyes  and  ruby  nose,  sitting 
enjoying  himself  in  the  corner,  and  making  constant  love 
to  the  whiskey-bottle,  was  Magnus  the  distiller,  who, 
with  a  couple  of  friends,  was  on  his  way  to  the  swamps, 
from  whence  we  came,  for  the  sake  of  buffalo  hunting. 
The  little  man  drank  my  health,  and  amused  me  very 
much  with  his  drolleries*  He  could  think  of  nothing  but 
buffaloes,  swore  only  by  buffaloes,  made  bets  in  buffalo- 
skins,  estimated  every  thing  by  their  value,  and  tor- 
mented the  small  modicum  of  understanding  which  the 
whiskey  had  left  in  his  brains,  to  devise  how  he  should 
be  able  to  transport  at  the  greatest  advantage  the  skins 
of  all  the  buffaloes  he  meant  to  kill. 

It  was  all  in  vain  that  I  attempted  to  give  him  an  idea 
of  the  almost  impenetrable  swamps,  of  the  difficulty  of 


312  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

finding  the  few  buffaloes  which  were  there,  and  of  the  al- 
most impossibility  when  found  of  bringing  their  skins  or 
any  other  part  away ;  his  countenance  bore  the  same 
joyous,  amicable  expression  as  before.  When  I  had 
finished  my  remarks,  he  handed  me  the  bottle,  which  1 
put  to  my- lips  without  drinking.  In  a  voice  trembling 
with  emotion,  he  assured  me  that  he  was  prepared  to  ven- 
ture every  thing,  even  life  itself,  for  the  sake  of  killing  a 
buffalo,  and  when  life  was  at  stake,  who  could  take  into 
consideration  a  few  insignificant  swamp-holes  or  thorns  ! 
And  then,  as  it  struck  him  that  he  was  a  father  of  a  fa- 
mily, his  voice  became  weaker  and  more  tremulous,  his 
emotion  increased,  a  flood  of  tears  gushed  from  his  eyes, 
and  before  I  was  aware,  the  little  round  figure  was  hang- 
ing to  my  neck.  The  heavy  weight  forced  from  me  a 
sigh,  which  he  took  for  sympathy,  and  he  began  to  squeeze 
so  hard  that  I  was  afraid  I  should  be  suffocated,  when 
his  two  friends,  who  had  been  more  moderate  with  the 
bottle,  sprang  to  my  rescue.  But  this  was  no  easy  matter, 
and  as  he  clung  to  me  he  cried  out,  "  Let  me  alone !  he's 
my  friend — he,  he  will  save  me  !  "  I  escaped  from  him 
by  a  sudden  wrench,  and  his  companions  carried  him  off 
to  bed,  he  all  the  while  throwing  about  his  little  fat  arms 
and  legs,  and  called  them  good-for-nothing  buffalo  dogs. 
Then  he  again  began  to  whine  and  cry,  the  sounds 
changing  gradually,  first  into  a  groan  and  then  into  a 
snore. 

We  arrived  at  the  new  farm  about  noon  next  day, 
and  found  the  former  proprietors  loading  their  wagon. 
They  took  their  leave  in  the  afternoon,  and  left  as  a 
memorial,  an  incredible  quantity  of  dirt.  As  soon  as 


MAGNUS,   THE  GREAT  BUFFALO   HUNTER.          313 

our  wagon  was  cleared,  and  the  things  under  cover,  S. 
returned  with  the  two  drivers  for  another  load,  leaving 
me  in  the  house  alone.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  a  thick 
forest,  with  a  field  of  about  seven  acres,  surrounded  by 
the  largest  trees.  But  I  had  not  much  time  to  contem- 
plate the  beauties  of  nature,  for,  in  unloading  and  stow- 
ing away,  the  hours  had  flown  on  the  wings  of  the  wind. 
The  sun  had  set  before  I  had  collected  wood  from  the 
forest  to  keep  up  a  fire  for  the  night,  or  had  had  time  to 
prepare  my  supper ;  the  latter  duty  did  not  take  long, 
for  my  whole  store  of  provisions  consisted  of  maize  flour, 
dried  venison,  and  wild  honey.  Bancroft  Lft* 

Darkness,  thick  darkness,  lay  upon  the  slumbering 
earth :  yielding  up  my  imagination  to  the  memorials  of 
old  times,  I  drew  the  solitary  chair  to  the  blazing  fire, 
took  out  my  zither,  and  with  soft  mournful  tones,  soothed 
the  home-sickness  which  in  loneliness  forces  itself  on  the 
heart.  After  a  time,  overcome  by  fatigue,  I  extended 
myself  on  my  buffalo  skin  before  the  fire,  and  soon  a 
succession  of  fantastic  dreams  flitted  across  my  brain. 
The  little  fat  distiller  sat  with  me  and  mine  in  a  garden 
at  Leipzig,  relating  all  the  hardships  and  dangers  which 
he  had  undergone  at  the  buffalo  hunt,  while  my  dear 
mother  listened  to  him  with  astonishment ;  many  other 
loved  forms  were  sitting  round  a  large  table,  each  with 
their  coffee  before  them,  when  we  were  all  disturbed  by 
a  loud  knocking  at  the  gate,  and  started  up  to  see  what 
was  the  matter,  except  the  little  distiller,  who  laugh- 
ingly told  us  it  was  only  a  tame  buffalo  that  he  had  tied 
up  at  the  gate.  The  knocking  growing  louder  and  louder, 
I  jumped  up  in  alarm  :*  the  fire  was  burnt  out,  thick 


314  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF   THE   WEST. 

darkness  surrounded  me,  but  the  repeated  loud  knocking 
shook  off  the  remains  of  sleep,  and  I  hastened  to  the 
door. 

One  of  the  drivers  who  had  left  the  day  before, 
stepped  into  the  room,  his  teeth  chattering  with  ague. 
I  made  haste  to  light  the  fire,  which  soon  burnt  up 
brightly,  and  then  looked  to  my  patient,  who  had  sunk 
down  on  a  chair,  telling  me  with  a  weak  voice  that 
his  last  hour  was  come.  Luckily,  I  had  some  coffee  at 
hand,  and  made  him  drink  a  couple  of  cups,  a£  hot  as 
possible,  sweetened  with  honey.  He  then  threw  himself 
on  the  skin  and  was  soon  asleep.  Next  day  he  was 
somewhat  better,  and  we  passed  the  time  as  well  as  we 
could,  till  S.  should  come  with  his  second  load.  I 
employed  myself  in  collecting  wood  for  the  fire,  and 
in  shooting  turkeys,  to  make  our  provisions  last. 
After  a  week,  during  the  last  days  of  which,  we  had 
lived  on  turkeys  and  pumpkins,  taking  the  latter  which 
were  very  sweet  and  delicate,  from  the  field  of  a  neigh- 
bor at  no  great  distance,  S.  arrived  with  the  rest 
of  his  property,  cows,  horses,  pigs,  geese,  cats,  chickens, 
and  dogs.  Then  there  was  all  the  bustle  of  arranging 
and  settling,  and  then  another  attack  of  ague,  which 
seemed  regularly  to  have  fixed  itself  on  me  in  this  un- 
healthy country.  I  bore  up  against  it,  but  was  not  well 
enough  to  mount  a  horse  till  the  20th  of  November, 
when  I  took  a  ride  of  four  or  five  miles  with  my  rifle, 
for  a  breath  of  fresh  air. 

These  swamps  and  morasses  partly  realize  the  idea 
which  Europeans  entertain  of  the  primitive  forest,  but 
in  which  they  are  frequently  deceived,  for  the  simple 


SWAMPS.  315 

reason,  that  on  the  higher  dry  grounds,  which  are  co- 
vered with  dry  leaves  and  wood,  fires  are  often  made, 
not  only  by  shooting  parties,  but  by  the  settlers,  for  the 
Bake  of  the  grass,  which  comes  up  all  the  sooner,  when 
all  these  enormous  quantities  of  leaves,  &c.,  have  been 
burnt ;  and  the  fire  does  not  consume  the  young  plants 
only,  but  considerably  checks  the  growth  of  the  older 
trees,  excepting  in  the  marshes,  where  the  ground  even 
in  summer  is  moist ;  and  there  the  trees  grow  to  a  colos- 
sal grandeur,  I  have  seen  some  measuring  seven,  eight, 
and  even  nine  feet  in  diameter. 

Towards  evening  I  saw  a  young  buck,  walking  quietly 
and  circumspectively  through  the  wood ;  I  dismounted 
and  left  the  horse  to  graze  at  leisure,  while  I  crept 
nearer.  He  stopped  when  he  saw  the  horse  pawing  the 
ground,  raised  his  handsome  head,  and  snuffed  the  air ; 
my  ball  whistled  through  his  ribs,  and  he  fell  lifeless  to 
to  the  ground.  Weak  as  I  was,  it  was  some  time  before 
I  could  lift  the  not  very  large  animal  on  to  the  horse, 
when  I  rode  slowly  homewards.  Just  before  dark,  I 
shot  a  turkey  with  the  other  barrel,  and  did  not  load 
again,  not  expecting  to  get  another  shot  so  late  in  the 
evening.  The  full  moon  set  its  soft  silvery  light  among 
the  dark  shadows  of  the  trees,  to  point  out  my  path.  I 
might  have  ridden  for  about  an  hour  and  a  half  through 
the  thick  forest,  on  my  heavily  laden  horse,  and  had 
gained  a  cattle  track,  -which  led  to  the  house ;  the  still- 
ness of  the  night  was  broken  by  the  cow-bells,  the  bay- 
ing of  the  dogs,  and  the  neigh  of  my  horse,  in  expectation 
of  a  good  supper,  when  there  was  a  sudden  rustling 
among  the  bushes  on  my  right.  I  pulled  up,  and  a  herd 


316  HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE  WEST. 

of  swine  rushed  in  wild  haste  across  the  path,  just  in 
front  of  me.  I  was  about  to  ride  on  when  I  heard  fur- 
ther rustling  amongst  the  dry  leaves,  and  then  one  of 
largest  bears  of  the  swamps  stood  in  the  path,  not  above 
six  paces  from  my  horse's  nose.  He  did  not  seem  to 
to  know  what  to  make  of  the  figure  looming  through  the 
glade  of  the  forest,  by  the  light  of  the  moon,  and  began 
to  snuff  the  air.  My  rifle  was  not  loaded,  and  the 
thought  flashed  upon  me  that  I  should  have  to  fight  it 
out  with  my  knife ;  but  I  resolved  first  to  try  and  send 
him  a  bit  of  lead.  I  placed  the  butt  of  my  gun  on  my' 
left  toe,  and  succeeded  in  loading ;  but  as  I  was  about 
to  place  the  copper  cap,  the  horse,  who  had  hitherto 
stood  quite  still,  seemed  inclined  to  examine  the  object 
before  him  a  little  closer,  and  giving  a  snort  made  a  step 
forward.  Master  bruin,  however,  did  not  seem  to  like 
this,  and  with  one  bound  he  was  in  the  jungle.  Having 
finished  my  loading,  I  slipped  off  my  horse,  and  crept 
into  the  bushes  to  get  a  shot  if  possible.  I  may  have 
gone  about  twenty  paces  over  the  dry  leaves,  when  I 
stood  still  to  listen.  Not  the  slightest  sound  was  to  be 
heard ;  though  I  was  firmly  convinced  that  the  bear 
could  not  be  above  ten  paces  off,  for  the  leaves  were  so 
dry  that  if  he  had  gone  further  I  must  have  heard  it. 
I  raised  my  foot  gently  to  make  another  step  forward, 
when  the  bear  who  had  been  standing  so  motionless  be- 
fore me,  that  I  took  him  for  the*  root  of  a  fallen  tree, 
almost  brushed  my  face,  and  took  himself  off  with  a 
growl ;  before  I  could  recover  from  my  surprise,  he  had 
disappeared. 

I  returned,  quite  disappointed,  to  my  horse,  who  re- 


HUNTING  WITH  AN   UNLOADED   GUN.  817 

mained  quietly  grazing,  and  rode  away  with  two  good 
resolutions  in  my  head, — first,  never  to  go  a  step  with 
my  gun  unloaded ;  secondly,  to  seek  a  nearer  acquain- 
tance with  Bruin  on  the  morrow,  if  possible. 

On  the  22nd  of  November,  I  was  early  afoot,  and  al- 
though the  weather  was  cold  and  disagreeable,  I  set  off 
with  a  neighbor  and  eleven  dogs,  full  of  joyous  hopes. 

Bear-shooting  in  America  differs  according  to  the  time 
of  the  year,  and  the  habits  of  the  animal.  It  was  now 
late  in  the  autumn,  almost  winter,  so  that  they  could  be 
hunted  with  dogs.  Well  mounted,  with  not  less  than 
from  four  to  about  eight  or  ten  dogs,  the  hunters  seek  in 
the  thickest  and  most  unfrequented  parts  of  the  forest 
the  favorite  haunts  of  the  bear.  The  men  ride  slowly 
through  the  thorns  and  creepers,  the  dogs  seeking  in  all 
directions  till  they  find  a  fresh  trail,  or  a  bear  breaks 
cover,  when  they  follow  up  in  full  cry.  If  the  bear  is 
fat  he  seldom  runs  far,  but  takes  to  a  tree,  or  shows 
fight ;  if  there  are  not  dogs  enough  to  master  him,  he 
knocks  them  over  and  continues  his  flight.  If  he  takes 
to  a  tree,  his  fate  ims  soon  sealed  by  the  rifle. 

We  had  ridden  along  quietly  for  about  an  hour,  when 
the  dogs  gave  tongue,  and  started  off,  we  after  them  as 
well  as  we  could.  My  horse  was  an  old  hand  at  it,  and 
I  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  sit  fast  as  he  leaped  the  fallen 
trees,  and  try  to  avoid  the  creepers,  which  however  often 
checked,  and  sometimes  threw  us. 

Keeping  up  with  the  dogs  was  out  of  the  question.  I 
had  long  lost  sight  of  my  companion ;  I  listened,  and  it 
appeared  that  the  bear  had  turned  to  the  left,  towards 
the  river  ;  could  he  reach  it,  he  was  safe, — it  was  too 


318  HUNTING   SPORTS  OF  THE  WEST. 

cold  for  the  dogs — besides,  they  would  hardly  venture 
to  swim,  and  we  also  must  have  remained  on  the  hank. 

I  changed  my  course  to  cut  him  off,  and  luckily  hit 
upon  one  of  the  cattle  tracks  that  cross  the  wood  in  all 
directions.  Once  clear  of  the  thorns,  we  went  at  a  good 
pace,  and  soon  heard  the  pack  approaching.  Suddenly 
the  horse  swerved  to  one  side  with  a  snort,  and  the  hear 
hurst  out  of  the  thicket.  The  moment  he  saw  the  horse, 
he  stopped  short  and  gave  a  deep  growl.  I  had  sprung 
off,  and  the  bear  had  hardly  stopped,  when  my  ball  was  in 
his  shoulder.  The  pack  was  close  upon  him,  and  he  sum- 
moned all  his  strength  to  escape  from  the  dogs ;  but  the 
wounded  shoulder  checked  his  pace,  the  dogs  attacked 
him,  and  he  rose  on  his  hind  legs  to  oppose  them.  I 
could  not  venture  a  second  shot  for  fear  of  injuring  some 
of  them,  so  charged  him  with  my  knife,  and  plunged  it 
from  behind  the  shoulder  into  his  heart ;  this,  with  the 
furious  bites  of  the  dogs,  soon  ended  his  life. 

My  companion  arrived  at  this  moment,  tired  to  death, 
all  torn  with  the  thorns,  and  his  horse  covered  with  foam. 
He  was  not  a  little  vexed  at  coming  too  late ;  however, 
he  helped  to  break  up  the  bear,  and  strip  off  his  skin, — 
and  as  each  of  us  had  a  bag  under  the  saddle,  we  divided 
the  prize,  and  rode  slowly  home.  The  carcase  is  always 
equally  divided  amongst  the  hunters ;  the  skin  belongs 
to  the  first  shot. 


COL.  CROCKETT'S  ENCOUNTER  WITH  A  BEAR.   S19 


COLONEL  DAVID  CROCKETT'S  ENCOUNTER  WITH  A  BEAR, 

IN  his  autobiography  *  the  Colonel  gives  the  following 
story.  His  dogs  had  once  attracted  his  attention  to  a 
tree  where  there  was  no  game.  He  thus  proceeds : 

When  they  saw  me  coming,  away  they  went  again ; 
and,  after  a  little  time,  began  to  bark  as  before.  When  I 
got  near  them,  I  found  they  were  barking  up  the  wrong  tree 
again,  as  there  was  no  game  there.  They  served  me  in 
this  way  three  or  four  times,  until  I  was  so  infernal  mad, 
that  I  determined,  if  I  could  get  near  enough,  to  shoot 
the  old  hound  at  least.  With  this  intention  I  pushed  on 
the  harder,  till  I  came  to  the  edge  of  an  open  prairie,  and 
looking  on  before  my  dogs,  I  saw  in  and  about  the  big- 
gest bear  that  ever  was  seen  in  America.  He  looked,  at 
the  distance  he  was  from  me,  like  a  large  black  bull.  My 
dogs  were  afraid  to  attack  him,  and  that  was  the  reason 
they  had  stopped  so  often,  that  I  might  overtake  them. 
They  were  now  almost  up  with  him,  and  I  took  my  gob- 
blers from  my  back  and  hung  them  up  in  a  sapling,  and 
broke  like  a  quarter  horse  after  my  bear,  for  the  sight 
of  him  had  put  new  springs  in  me.  I  soon  got  near  to 
them,  but  they  were  just,  getting  into  a  roaring  thicket, 
and  so  I  couldn't  run  through  it,  but  had  to  pick  my  way 
along,  and  had  close  work  even  at  that. 

In  a  little  time  I  saw  the  bear  climbing  up  a  large 
black  oak  tree,  and  I  crawled  on  until  I  got  within  about 
eighty  yards  of  him.  He  was  sitting  with  his  breast  to 

*  Life  of  Colonel  David  Crockett,  published  by  G.  G.  Evans, 
Philadelphia,  1859. 


HUNTING   SPORTS   OF  THE   WEST. 

me ;  and  so  I  put  fresh  priming  in  my  gun,  and  fired  at 
him.  At  this  he  raised  one  of  his  paws  and  snorted 
loudly.  I  loaded  again  as  quick  as  I  could,  and  fired  as 
near  the  same  place  in  his  breast,  as  possible.  At  the 
crack  of  my  gun  here  he  came,  tumbling  down ;  and  the 
moment  he  touched  the  ground,  I  heard  one  of  my  best 
dogs  cry  out.  I  took  my  tomahawk  in  one  hand,  and 
my  big  butcher-knife  in  the  other,  and  run  up  within 
four  or  five  paces  of  him,  at  which  he  let  my  dog  go,  and 
fixed  his  eyes  on  me.  I  got  back  in  all  sorts  of  a  hurry, 
for  I  know'd  if  he  got  hold  of  me,  he  would  hug  me  al- 
together too  close  for  comfort.  I  went  to  my  gun  and 
hastily  loaded  her  again,  and  shot  him  the  third  time, 
which  killed  him  good. 

I  now  started  for  home,  and  got  my  brother-in-law,  and 
my  young  man,  and  four  horses,  and  went  back.  We  got 
there  just  before  dark,  and  struck  up  a  fire,  and  com- 
menced butchering  my  bear.  It  was  some  time  in  the 
night  before  we  finished  it ;  and  I  can  assert,  on  my  honor, 
that  I  believe  he  would  have  weighed  six  hundred  pounds. 
It  was  the  second  largest  I  ever  saw.  I  killed  one,  a  few 
years  after,  that  weighed  six  hundred  and  seventeen 
pounds.  We  got  our  meat  home,  and  I  had  the  pleasure 
to  know  that  we  now  had  plenty,  and  that  of  the  best ; 
and  I  continued  through  the  winter  to  supply  my  family 
abundantly  with  bear-meat  and  venison  from  the  woods. 


